COAL. 


HENRY  E.  COLTON, 

GEOLOGIST  and  INSPECTOR  OF  MINES. 


— ON  THE — 


COAL  MINES  OF  TENNESSEE, 


AND  OTHER  MINERALS, 


—TO 


A.  W.  HAWKINS,  COMMISSIONER, 

AGRICULTURE,  STATISTICS  and  Ml IV ES. 


NASHVILLE : 

ALBERT  B.  TAVEL,  PRINTER  TO  THE  STATE, 
1883. 


t( 


0\ 

{/ 


HENRY  E.  COLTON, 

GEOLOGIST  md  INSPECTOR  01  MINES. 


—ON  THE— 


COAL  MIHES  OF  TEMESSEE, 

AND  OTHER  MINERALS, 

—TO-     .%   4     !  :••»',  :\> ;,  ;  ; 

A.  W.  HAWKINS,  COMMISSIONER, 

AGRICULTURE,  STATISTICS  and  MINES. 


NASHVILLE : 

ALBERT  B.  TAVEL,  PRINTER  TO  THE  STATE, 
1883. 


BUREAU  OF  AGRICULTURE,  STATISTICS  AND  MINES,  1 
NASHVILLE,  March  23,  1883.  J 

To  his  Excellency,  W.  _B.  Bate,  Governor  of  Tennessee : 

In  my  biennial  report  to  Governor  Hawkins,  under  date  of  Jan- 
uary 1,  1883,  in  speaking  of  the  coal  mines  of  Tennessee,  I  used 
the  following  language  (page  14) : 

"  Coal  mining  in  Tennessee  has  reached  a  condition  which  im- 
peratively demands  that  the  strong  arm  of  the  law  should  intervene 
to  protect  the  miners  from  such  catastrophes  as  have  too  often  o«- 
curred,  when,  either  from  ignorance  or  criminal  carelessness  on  the 
part  of  those  in  control,  the  necessary  precautions  for  safety  had 
been  neglected. 

"  A  supervision  of  these  mines  by  a  competent  engineer  is  im- 
peratively demanded.  In  order  to  meet  what  I  regarded  as  a 
pressing  public  necessity,  I  directed  Prof.  Colton  to  make  an  in- 
spection of  these  mines,  a  report  of  which  will  be  submitted  in  a 
few  days." 

In  reference  to  the  iron  interests  of  our  State,  in  the  same  report 
(page  15-16),  I  said: 

"The  iron  interests  of  Tennessee  are  developing  into  immense 
proportions,  both  present  and  prospective.  Those  who  assume  that 
the  iron  interests  of  our  State  are  fully  known,  but  advertise  their 
own  ignorance  of  the  subject.  Much,  it  is  true,  has  heretofore  been 
known  and  published  in  regard  to  our  deposits  of  iron  ores.  Con- 
cerning many  of  them,  however,  the  public  have  had  no  definite 
information  in  reference  either  to  their  extent  or  quality.  With 
the  view  of  securing  such  additional  knowledge  of  our  iron  regions 

19127705 


(4) 

as  may  lead  to  further  enterprises  for  the  development  of  their 
riches,  I  have  personally,  and  by  the  able  assistance  of  Prof.  Henry 
E.  Colton,  had  surveys  of  different  localities,  the  results  of  which 
are  given  in  his  report  herewith  submitted.  A  more  detailed  re- 
port of  his  survey  of  the  Western  Iron  Belt  will  be  submitted  as 
soon  as  the  necessary  maps  and  drawings  can  be  prepared,  and  will 
add  much  to  the  public  information  on  this  very  important  iron 
region  of  our  State." 

In  compliance  with  the  promises  contained  in  the  foregoing  ex- 
tracts, the  following  report  by  Prof.  Colton  is  respectfully  sub- 
mitted. 

A.  W.  HAWKINS,  Commissioner. 

N.  B. — When  this  book  was  first  projected,  it  was  intended  only 
to  contain  Prof.  Colton's  "  Report  on  the  Coal  Mines,"  but  the 
great  demand  for  a  book  descriptive  of  our  coal  fields  has  caused 
him  to  be  directed  to  elaborate  it  into  such  a  work. 


THE  TENNESSEE  COAL  FIELD. 


The  superficial  area  in  the  State  of  Tennessee,  covered  by  coal 
bearing  strata,  amounts  to  5,100  square  miles,  but  this  does  not 
fairly  represent  the  amount  of  coal  in  the  State,  as  all  this  area  has 
at  least  one  seam  of  coal,  a  large  proportion  more  than  two,  and  a 
very  considerable  area  has  six  or  more  workable  seams.  It  is  thus 
seen  that  the  mere  area  of  a  coal  field  may  be  a  very  poor  indica- 
tion of  the  quantity  of  coal  it  contains,  and  without  an  examination 
Into  the  thickness  of  the  seams,  and  the  quality  of  the  coal  therein, 
any  judgment  formed  from  area  alone  may  be  very  incorrect. 
Missouri  contains  vastly  more  coal  area  than  Tennessee,  yet  one 
seam  in  Tennessee  is  worth  more  for  economic  purposes  than  all 
the  coal  of  Missouri. 

In  Pennsylvania  there  is  a  formation  under  the  regular  coal 
series,  sometim.es  called  the  False  Coal  Measures,  but  classed  by 
Prof.  H.  D.  Rogers,  as  the  Umbral  Series,  having  only  thin  bands 
of  coal ;  in  Tennessee,  these  measures  contain  several  workable 
seams  of  coal  of  excellent  quality.  The  Lower  and  Upper  Measures 
of  Pennsylvania  also  appear  in  this  State,  but  the  great  mass  of 
rocks  of  the  barren  measures  appear  in  much  reduced  thickness. 
It  is  thus  seen  that  while  Tennessee  has  all  the  bituminous  coals  of 
Pennsylvania,  this  State  has  also  a  coal-bearing  strata,  which  in 
that  is  usually  bare  of  any  productive  seams.  While  the  area 
covered  by  our  coal  field  is  not  so  large,  yet  it  is  probable  that 
we  have  as  much  of  this  mineral  fuel — the  anthracite  field  ex- 
cepted — as  the  great  iron  State. 


(6) 

The  Tennessee  coal  field  belongs  to  that  division  known  in  geol-- 
ogy  as  the  Appalachian  coal  field,  which,  commencing  in  Pennsyl- 
vania, extends  over  a  part  of  Ohio,  Kentucky,  West  Virginia, 
Tennessee,  and  ends  in  Alabama.  While  its  width  in  Pennsylvania 
and  Ohio  extends  through  nearly  four  degrees  of  longitude,  at  the 
northern  boundary  of  Tennessee  it  is  only  about  seventy-one  miles 
wide,  and  at  its  southern  boundary  thirty  miles.  In  its  southern 
course  into  Alabama,  it  expands  into  a  heart-shaped  area  one  hundred 
miles  or  more  in  width.  The  area  of  this  coal  field  in  Tennessee 
includes  within  its  limits  the  counties  of  Scott,  Morgan,  Cumber- 
land, the  greater  parts  of  Fentress,  Van  Buren,  Bledsoe,  Grundy, 
Sequatchie  and  Marion,  considerable  parts  of  Claiborne,  Campbell, 
Anderson,  Rhea,  Roane,  Overton,  Hamilton,  Putnam,  White  and 
Franklin,  and  small  portions  of  Warren  and  Coffee. 

A  part  of  this  area  possesses  a  peculiar  topographical  feature 
which  has  given  it  the  name  of  the  Cumberland  Table  Land,  which, 
name  has  been  indiscriminately  applied  to  the  whole  coal  field, 
while  among  those  who  live  there  and  have  studied  these  features 
the  terms  Cumberland  Mountains  and  Cumberland  Plateau  are  dis- 
tinctively used  ;  there  being  no  plateau  character  to  the  northeast- 
ern section,  an  area  of  about  1,000  square  miles.  This  area  is  a 
series  of  short  irregular  mountain  chains,  breaking  off  from  the 
main  mountain,  which  is  the  divide  between  the  waters  of  the  Cum- 
berland and  the  Tennessee,  and  frequently  having  peaks  of  great 
height.  The  area  of  the  true  table  land  or  plateau  country,  is 
chiefly  the  northwestern  part  of  the  coal  field,  though  the  plateau 
character  extends  in  some  degree  to  the  southwestern  region,  and 
even  on  to  that  part  of  mountain  west  of  Chattanooga,  improperly 
called  Walden's  Ridge.  The  table-land  and  plateau  character  is 
again  found  in  Sand  Mountain  of  Alabama.  Still  further  south  in 
that  State,  the  coal  measure  rocks  sink  below  the  water  level,  and 
the  superincumbent  strata  make  a  country  of  merely  gentle  rolling 
ridges. 

The  peculiar  topography  of  this  region  may  be  understood  by  the 
following  record  of  elevations,  copied  from  Maj.  Falconet's  survey 
of  the  Tennessee  &  Pacific  railroad.  This  survey  ran  an  almost 
east  and  west  line  from  Nashville  to  Knoxville,  and  crosses  diago- 
nally the  northeast  and  southwest  direction  of  the  coal  regions*. 
The  distances  are  not  here  noted,  but  on  top  of  the  table  land,  the 


(7 

second  bench,  the  top  of  the  great  conglomerate  sandstone,  for 
twenty- six  miles,  there  is  only  a  variation  from  a  level  of  142 
feet: 

N.  &  C.  E.  R.,  Nashville  above  tide  water 476 

Another  survey  gives  the  elevation  of  Nashville  as 
435  feet  above  the  sea 

Lebanon  559 

Hawkins'  Gap  Summit 704 

Round  Lick  Ridge 662 

Gardensville 501 

Pea  Ridge  Summit 1,079 

Allison's '....  1,110 

First  bench  of  Cumberland  Mountain 1,477 

Second  bench  of  Cumberland  Mountain 1,831 

Standing  Stone 1,876 

Summit  of  Plateau 1,918 

Highest  point  of  Survey 1,973 

Bledsoe's  Stand 1,880 

Langley's  x  Roads 1,347 

Big  Emery  river,  near  Montgomery 1,039 

Wartburg %.  1,379 

Winter's  Gap : 834 

It  is  seen  from  this  that  the  rise  from  the  valley  at  Allison's  to 
the  first  bench  is  rapid,  and  thence  to  the  second  bench  still  greater. 
The  distance  from  Allison's  to  second  bench  is  only  twelve 
miles,  while  the  rise  is  720  feet.  The  fall  from  the  plateau  at 
Bledsoe's  stand  to  the  region  of  the  influence  of  the  great  down 
throw  at  Langleys,  and  on  to  the  river  at  Montgomery  is  equally- 
wonderful. 

The  most  valuable  series  of  elevations  yet  made  through  this 
region,  were  for  the  Cincinnati  Southern  railroad,  and  through 
the  kindness  of  the  officials  of  that  road,  I  have  been  furnished 
with  them  and  much  other  valuable  matter.  It  is  worthy  of  re- 
mark that  they  give  the  same  elevation  to  Bledsoe's  stand  as  that 
given  by  Maj.  Falconet.  The  Trustees  of  that  railway  had  surveys 
made  from  Columbia  Ky.,  through  Clay,  Overton,  Putnam,  White, 
Van  Buren  and  Sequatchie  counties  to  Chattanooga;  also  from 
Monticello,  Ky.,  through  Fentress,  Cumberland,  Bledsoe  and  Se- 


(8) 

quatchie ;  also  from  a  point  on  the  last  line  near  Crossville  to 
White's  creek  bridge  in  the  valley,  where  the  road  has  since  been 
built. 

The  first  line  followed  the  valley  at  the  Northwestern  base  of  the 
Cumberland  mountain  to  Sparta,  and  eleven  miles  east  of  that  town, 
commenced  ascending  the  mountain  and  crossed  over  to  Sequatchie 
valley.  The  elevation  of  Sparta  is  about  950  feet. 

[Since  the  above  was  put  in  type  Mr.  Hunter  McDonald,  of  the 
Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Engineer  Corps,  has  sent  me  his  levels, 
which,  connected  with  Col.  Jones',  makes  Sparta  976  feet  above 
the  sea.] 

As  stated  the  ascent  of  the  mountain  proper  commences  in  a  valley 
eleven  miles  east  of  Sparta  860  feet  above  the  sea,  thence  in  about 
ten  miles  the  rise  is  837  feet  to  an  elevation  of  1,700  feet  above  the 
sea ;  thence  for  eleven  miles  the  rise  is  to  a  summit  of  2,000 
feet;  thence  to  Dunlap  the  fall  is  1,250  feet  in  sixteen  miles.  Hence 
the  part  that  may  be  called  the  plateau,  has  a  variation  of  200  feet 
of  elevation  in  eleven  miles ;  while  further  north  we  have  seen 
there  is  a  variation  of  only  142  feet  in  twenty-six  miles. 

The  second  line  of  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway  surveys  en- 
tered the  State  north  of  Jamestown.  At  this  point  the  valley 
where  the  rise  commences  is  in  Kentucky,  fifteen  miles  north  of  the 
State  line.  The  elevation  there  is  900  feet,  at  the  State  line  it  has 
reached  1,650,  and  from  thence  to  Bledsoe's  Stand  there  is  a  rise  of 
only  230  feet,  the  distance  being  fifty  miles;  thence  to  Obed  River 
there  is  a  rise  to  a  summit  of  1,900  feet  between  Obed  River  and 
Clear  Creek,  another  similar  elevation  between  Obed  River  and 
Daddy's  Creek,  another,  but  more  sharply  defined,  at  Crab  Orchard, 
and  then  the  mountain  falls  rapidly  to  the  Tennessee  Valley  on 
White's  Creek.  From  the  point  where  Crab  Orchard  is  crossed  to 
the  Valley  is  fourteen  miles,  and  the  total  descent  936  feet. 

The  other  line  was  run  down  to  the  west  of  the  head  of  Se- 
quatchie Valley.  It  adds  nothing  of  special  interest  except  show- 
ing the  irregular  escarpment-like  form  which  the  rim  of  the  valley 
there  assumes,  being  raised  higher  than  the  mountain  behind  it. 
The  descent  to  Pikeville,  in  nine  and  one- half  miles,  is  1,050  feet. 
Pikeville  is  about  850  feet  above  the  sea  level,  and  from  Pikeville 
to  Dunlap,  twenty  miles,  this  singular  valley  falls  only  one  hun- 
dred feet. 


(9) 

The  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway  was  constructed  on  a  line  en- 
tirely different  from  any  of  these.  It  crosses  the  mountain  nearly 
on  the  boundary  line  of  the  action  of  the  great  downthrow.  Leav- 
ing Chattanooga  at  an  elevation  of  635  feet  above  the  sea,  it  follows 
the  Tennessee  Valley  to  Emery  Gap  for  near  eighty  miles,  and  has 
there  only  attained  an  elevation  of  792  feet,  eighteen  miles  beyond, 
near  Wartburg,  where  Emery  River  is  left,  at  Triplett's  Gap  it  has 
reached  1,209,  and  ten  miles  further  on,  where  is  the  water  divide, 
the  grade  elevation  is  1,430,  and  that  of  the  top  of  the  mountain 
1,585.  Between  New  River  and  the  State  line  a  narrow  strip  of 
the  plateau  is  passed  over,  the  elevation  for  ten  miles  ranging  from 
1,598  to  1,560.  From  this  there  is  a  fall  at  Chitwoods,  the  State 
line,  to  1,320;  beyond  this  is  another  arm  of  the  plateau  where 
there  is  an  elevation  for  nine  miles  from  1,400  to  1,450,  and  for 
twenty- five  miles  to  the  first  bench  of  the  Cumberland  Mountain, 
placed  at  1,257,  then  slowly  down  to  700  feet,  the  elevation  of  the 
Cumberland  River.  The  level  of  the  rail  on  the  bridge  at  Cincin- 
nati is  537  feet  above  sea  level,  98  feet  lower  than  the  terminus  in 
Chattanooga. 

The  ascents  of  these  railroad  lines  do  not  properly  represent  the 
wall-like  character  of  the  outer  edge  of  this  singular  region.  There 
are  numerous  places  on  the  western  boundary,  where  in  two  hun- 
dred yards  of  horizontal  level  the  strata  drop  a  thousand  feet  in 
vertical  line,  from  the  upper  coal  measures  down  to  the  lowest  sub- 
carboniferous  limestones.  There  are  equally  as  many  points  on  the 
eastern  boundary  where  a  horizontal  level  of  five  hundred  or  less 
feet  will  represent  a  vertical  fall  of  from  1,000  to  1,500  feet,  and  a 
change  from  among  the  upper  carboniferous  rocks  down  into  the 
Niagara  limestone  and  the  Clinton  iron  ores. 

The  part  of  our  coal  field  area  therefore  which  should  be  properly 
called  the  Cumberland  Table  Land  or  Plateau  is  an  area  extending 
from  the  Kentucky  line  in  Scott  and  Fentress  counties,  southwest 
to  Franklin,  and  narrowing  in  width  as  it  passes  southward. 

The  main  floor  on  top  of  this  table  land  is  a  sandstone,  sometimes 
a  conglomerate,  which  is  met  everywhere  when  one  reaches  the  main 
bench  of  the  mountain.  It  runs  back  on  the  mountain  for  varied 
distances,  rising  upon  it  at  these  distances  are  ridges  from  fifty  to 
a  hundred  feet  in  height,  the  tops  of  which  are  more  or  less  capped 
with  sandstone,  and  form  plateau  areas  of  greater  or  less  width. 


(  10) 

This  is  a  peculiar  feature  in  the  southwestern  section,  and  the  man- 
ner in  which  these  ridges  are  built  up  on  the  conglomerate  is  ex- 
cellently illustrated  at  Tracy  City;  but  to  the  north,  as  the  Kentucky 
line  is  approached  these  ridges  cease,  and  the  conglomerate  forma 
the  floor  of  a  vast  area  of  almost  level  country,  and  on  the  western 
edges  of  the  table-land  is  a  steep  escarpment  or  brow,  bold,  dis- 
tinct, and  well  marked  from  twenty  to  one  hundred,  and  some- 
times two  hundred  feet  high.  Beneath  this  often  overhanging  brow, 
the  gradual  slopes  of  the  sides  begin  and  run  down  to  the  low 
lands.  Just  below  the  lower  coal  measures  is  usually  a  character 
of  flatj  called  the  bench  of  the  mountain,  heavily  timbered  with 
walnut,  poplar,  buckeye  and  beech,  its  floor  being  the  upper 
mountain  limestone ;  from  it  commence  the  slopes  which  are 
composed  of  the  various  sub- carboniferous  limestones  and  their 
accompaning  shales  The  western  edge  is  jagged,  notched  by 
innumerable  coves  and  valleys,  and  presenting  a  scolloped  or 
ragged  contour,  with  outlying  knobs  separated  from  the  main 
Table -land  by  deep  ravines  or  fissures.  The  eastern  outline  of 
the  Cumberland  Mountains  is,  for  some  distance,  a  nearly  direct 
line,  making,  however,  a  curve  in  Anderson  and  Campbell  counties. 
In  the  southern  portion,  near  the  eastern  side,  is  a  deep  gorge, 
canoe-shaped,  with  steep  escarpments  rising  eight  hundred  to  one 
thousand  feefe  above  the  valley,  through  which  the  Sequatchie  river 
flows.  This  is  the  Sequatchie  valley  which  separates  the  lower  end 
of  the  Table- land  into  two  distinct  arms.  Through  the  eastern  arm 
the  Tennessee  river  breaks,  and  after  flowing  down  the  valley  for  a 
distance  of  sixty  miles,  turns  at  Guntersville,  Alabama,  and  cuts 
through  what  is  there  left  of  the  western  arm  fifty  miles  from  the 
Tennessee  line.  This  Sequatchie  Trough  is  one  hundred  and  sixty 
miles  in  length,  the  Tennessee  part  being  sixty  miles,  and  that  in 
Alabama  one  hundred. 

The  southeastern  arm  of  the  coal-field,  on  the  western  side  of 
which  is  the  Sequatchie  Valley,  is  eight  miles  wide.  Between  the 
Tennessee  river  and  the  Nashville  and  Chattanooga  railroad,  it  is 
called  Raccoon  "mountain.  Separated  from  this  latter  by  Will's 
valley,  is  Lookout  mountain,  an  outlier  of  the  Cumberland  Table- 
land it  may  be  called,  probably  at  one  time  connected  with  it ;  of 
the  same  geological  formation,  but  not  containing  any  workable 
coal  at  any  point  yet  discovered  in  Tennessee. 


(11) 

The  position  of  the  coals  and  other  strata  in  this  northwestern) 
division  of  the  Tennessee  coal  field  may  be  gathered  from  a  study- 
of  the  following  section  made  near  Tracy  City  by  Dr.  Safford^ 
being  made  from  the  mountain  limestone  up  the  gulch  of  Fiery 
Gizzard,  and  on  reaching  the  conglomerate  plateau  to  that  place  and 
the  ridge,  or  second  bench,  in  which  the  Sewanee  seam  of  coal  ia 
located. 

First  in  ascending  order  is  the  mountain  limestone  and  its  shales^ 
hundreds  of  feet  thick.  Upon  it  are  : 

FEET. 

1.  Shale  and  thin  sandstone 20  , 

2.  Hard  sandstone 20- 

3.  COAL — No.  1,  sometimes  a  thin  shale  above  and  be- 

low it- — coal 1  to  £ 

4.  Sandstone,  hard 78 

5.  Sandy  shale 22 

6.  Shale  with  few  inches  of  clay 8 

7.  COAL— No.  2,  outcrop J  to  1J 

8.  Sandstone  (cliff  rock) 65 

9.  Shale  with  clay  at  top 10 

10.  COAL — No.  3,  outcrop J  to  1 

11.  Conglomerate ..70 

12.  Sandstone 17 

13.  Shale 3 

14.  COAL — Outcrop 1 

15.  Shale,  some  sandy 45 

16.  COAL — (the  Sewanee  seam) 2  to  T 

17.  Shale,  sandy 45 

18.  Sandstone 86 

19.  Sandy  shale 25 

20.  Dark  clay  shale 1 

21.  COAL — outcrop J 

22.  Shale 23 

23.  COAL,  only  a  few  inches  thick 

24.  Conglomerate,  (usually  a  sandstone,  and  when  the 

ridges  are  broad  enough  to  make  a  plateau,  is  tjien 
floor  rock) 50 

This  section  reaches  to  the  top  of  the  highest  ridge  sbove  the 
Sewanee  seem,  and  is  stated  to  be  2,162  feet  above  the  sea,  and  the- 


(  12) 

elevation  of  the  Sewanee  seam  at  its  outcrop  is  1,922  feet  above  the 
«ea.  As  seen  from  the  elevations  given  heretofore,  the  elevations 
to  the  north  are  less,  but  at  the  same  time  it  is  known  that  for  some 
distance  in  that  direction  this  seam  is  found,  though  undoubtedly 
with  less  covering  of  sandstones  and  shales. 

Another  section  was  made  at  Bon  Air,  and  is  as  follows  : 

MOUNTAIN    LIMESTONE. 

FEET. 

1.  Sandstones  and  shales 20 

2.  Fine  clay 1  to  2 

3.  Coal— 2  to  4  feet,  average 3  to  2} 

4.  Shale . 12 

5.  Coal — thin  seam  and  fire  clay 1  to  2 

6.  Sandstone 13 

7.  Shale — probably  coal  has  iron  stones 80 

8.  Conglomerate. 

This  is  a  section  of  Little's  Bank,  two  and  a  half  miles  from  Bon 
Air  proper  and  six  miles  from  Sparta. 

The  above  section  was  taken  by  Dr.  Safford  in  1867.  Since  that 
time  the  bank  has  been  more  extensively  opened,  and  the  lower 
coal,  as  measured  during  my  late  visit  to  that  region,  was  very  uni- 
formly 3  to  3J  feet  in  thickness.  The  middle  seam  (5  of  the  sec- 
tion) had  also  developed  to  a  coal  never  under  2J-  feet  thick.  The 
upper  seam,  immediately  under  the  conglomerate,  was  14  to  16 
inches  thick,  and  is  undoubtedly  the  same  as  the  Cliff  seam  of  the 
JEtna  mines.  Col.  Samuel  S.  Jones,  of  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga 
&  St.  Louis  Engineer  Corps,  ran  a  line  from  the  depot  at  Sparta  to 
the  Bon  Air  Coal  Company's  property,  terminating  at  what  is 
known  as  the  Fitzwater  mine.  This  survey  determined  the  eleva- 
tion of  that  seam  as  1,585  feet  above  the  sea  level.  It  is  a  singular 
fact  that  the  same  seam  in  Poplar  Mountain  (Kentucky)  by  the 
United  States  Engineer's  survey,  is  1,436  feet  above  the  sea  level, 
these  coal  measures  being  lower  there,  as  the  incline  to  go  beneath 
the  Upper  Measures  of  East  Kentucky  has  there  commenced.  In 
the  great  rock  which  makes  the  Bluff  at  Bon  Air,  which  is  a  promi- 
nent point  from  all  points  of  the  Sparta  Valley,  I  found  cut  by  the 
Engineer  Corps  of  the  Tennessee  &  Pacific  Railroad  an  elevation 
above  the  sea  of  1,827  feet.  It  must  be  remembered  that  the 
^Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Engineer's  elevation  is  from  a 


(  13) 

base  at  Nashville  of  435  feet,  while  that  of  the  Tenessee  &  Pacific 
is  from  a  base  of  476.  Not  an  important  matter,  however,  in  the 
point  being  considered,  which  is  to  illustrate  the  great  dip  of  strata 
to  the  southeast.  A  direct  southeast  line  would  strike  near  Spring 
City,  in  Rhea  County,  there  the  mountain  limestone  is  low  down 
in  the  valley.  It  is  true,  however,  that  the  dip  to  that  point  is  not 
regular,  as  the  action  of  the  Sequatchie  Valley  fold  is  intermediate, 
and  there  is  a  synclinal  between  Crab  Orchard  Gap  and  the  moun- 
tain rim  near  Sparta,  to  which  the  strata  dip  on  both  sides,  the 
more  severely  from  the  eastern  or  Crab  Orchard  side,  as  the  eleva- 
tion in  the  Gap  is  about  1,700  feet,  the  mountain  limestone  showing 
in  the  road  at  the  Gap.  In  the  intermediate  strata  as  they  rise,  all 
the  coals  show;  in  the  higher  ridges  the  Sewanee  seam,  the  drop 
on  that  side  seeming  to  have  preserved  it,  as  it  is  gone  for  some 
distance  from  the  rim  on  the  Western  side. 

The  chief  seam  of  coal  of  the  area  which  we  have  discussed  as  the 
northwest  division  of  the  Tennessee  coal-field,  is  known  as  the 
Sewanee  seam,  from  the  fact  that  it  has  been  the  only  one  worked 
with  success  and  to  any  extent  for  a  length  of  time  on  the  Sewanee 
Mountain  at  Tracy  City.  It  extends  over  a  greater  area  than  any 
other  seam  of  coal  in  the  State  ;  at  the  same  time  the  sub- conglom- 
erate measures  afford  in  White,  Putnam,  Overton,  Fentress,  and  in 
Kentucky,  seams  of  remarkable  thickness,  having  no  superior  any- 
where for  domestic  and  steam  purposes. 

The  usual  classification  of  the  coal  seams  of  the  Tennessee  coal- 
field has  been  into  upper  and  lower  measures,  the  division  being 
made  on  the  thick  conglomerate  which  forms  the  cap  of  the  plateau. 
The  proper  division,  however,  is  into  Lower,  Middle  and  Upper 
measures.  The  Lower  Measures  representing  the  sub-conglomerate 
strata  ;  the  Middle  those  of  the  Sewanee  section  (Nos.  1 2  to  24  in- 
clusive), and  the  Upper  the  coals  appearing  above  water  level  in  the 
horizontal  strata  of  the  high  mountains  in  the  Eastern  division  of 
the  coal  field.  The  measures  thus  classed  as  Lower  Measures  are 
sometimes  called  False  Coal  Measures  in  Pennsylvania,  and  those  we 
have  denominated  Middle  Measures  are  there  called  the  Lower  Meas- 
ures. A  more  proper  classification  and  one  more  in  unison  with 
those  of  other  States  is  into  Upper,  Lower  and  Sub- conglomerate 
measures.  The  classing  of  our  sub-conglomerate  measures  as  lower 
and  the  Sewanee  section  as  upper,  tends  at  least  to  produce  confu- 


(  14) 

«ion,  if  it  is  not  absolutely  inadmissible,  when  any  comparison  of 
X)ur  coals  with  those  of  Pennsylvania  is  attempted,  the  fossils  of  the 
TSewanee  seam  being  identical  with  those  of  the  Lower  coaljmeasures 
-of  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  which  do  not  exist  in  the  horizontal 
«eams  of  Coal  Creek;  while  it  is  also  evident  that  the  eighteen  coal 
seams  existing  above  water  level  at  that  place  and  at  Poplar  Creek 
-do  not  belong  to  the  Lower  measures.  Our  Upper  measures  certainly 
•correspond  in  some  degree  to  those  similarly  termed^in  West  Vir* 
iginia  and  Pennsylvania,  but  the  constituents  of  our  strata  are  so  dif- 
ferent, also  the  conditions  under  which  our  coals  were  formed,  as 
well  as  the  disturbances  to  which  they  were  afterwards  subjected, 
that  any  satisfactory  comparison  is  at  least  difficult. 

The  Sewanee  seam  furnishes  a  larger  amount  of  coal  than  any 
-other  single  seam  in  Tennessee,  and  has  all  the  qualities  that  com- 
bine to  make  a  useful  and  valuable  coal.  It  varies  in  some  of  its 
characteristics  and  constituents  in  different  localities,  but  that  is  a 
common  freak  of  all  coal  seams  in  every  coal-field.  It  makes  a  good 
coke,  is  a  good  steam- making  coal,  makes  a  hot,  durable  fire  in  the 
grate,  and  is  nearly  free  from  sulphur.  It  is  found  in  the  elevated 
ridges  all  over  the  Table-land,  but  in  the  horizontal  strata  of  the 
Coal  Creek  and  Winter's  Gap  Section  of  the  field  it  has  sunk  far  be- 
neath the  surface.  It  is  the  main  seam  of  the  pitched  strata  of  Wal- 
t3en's  Ridge,  and  continues  therein  with  much  persistency  from  Rock- 
wood  to  near  Careyville,  and  from  beyond  that  place  to  near  Cum- 
berland gap.  Where  the  Ridge  is  regular  in  surface,  and  the  strata 
in  place,  the  seam  is  of  regular  thickness  and  easily  worked,  with  a 
t;ertainty  of  obtaining  a  constant  supply,  but  where  the  strata  are 
broken  by  ravines  or  gorges,  it  is  also  disturbed,  sometimes  lost 
-entirely,  and  again  rising  into  great  thickness.  If  it  continues 
under  the  horizontal  strata  in  the  region  northeast  of  Dayton,  as 
there  is  every  reason  to  believe,  the  area  in  which  it  'may  be  made 
available  in  the  present  or  future  will  not  be  much,  if  any,  less  than 
3,000  square  miles,  which,  at  the  low  estimate  of  3,000  tons  to  the 
ttcre,  would  yield  5,760,000,000  tons  of  coal,  the  digging  of  which 
would  keep  1,000  men  employed  1,440,000  days,  or  4,800  years, 
if  they  worked  300  days  per  year  and  dug  four  tons  per  day;  and 
their  wages  at  two  cents  per  bushel  would  amount  to  $600,000  per 
year,  or  for  the  whole  time,  §2,880,000,000,  the  labor  value  of  one 
seam  alone  of  all  the  Tennessee  coal  field. 


(  15) 

.  f 

The  other  grand  division  of  the  Tennessee  coal  field  lies  to  the 
east  of  the  Cincinnati  Southern  railway,  is  irregular  in  shape,  and 
its  topography  is  as  wild  and  varied  as  its  shape  is  irregular.  It  is 
simply  a  mass  of  mountains,  all,  however,  as  heretofore  f-aid,  having 
a  connecting  link  to  the  main  range,  which  is  the  water  divide. 
Properly,  this  area  should  be  bounded  by  the  Sequatchie  Valley 
and  a  line  from  its  head  to  the  Cincinnati  Southern  road ;  thence 
with  that  road  for  a  short  distance,  and  then  a  line  bearing  a  little 
north- northeast  from  it.  This  is  the  area  on  which  the  influence  of 
the  Sequatchie  and  Pine  Mountain  fault  was  felt  and  the  great 
down-throw  acted,  whereby  the  strata  we  have  previously  consid- 
ered and  shown  as  existing  on  top  of  mountains  over  a  thousand 
feet  above  the  sea  level  have,  on  the  eastern  side  of  this  coal  field, 
been  thrown  down  a  thousand  feet  below  the  surface,  and  also  at 
another  point  changed  in  their  physical  position  so  as  to  be  vertical 
instead  of  horizontal.  On  the  top  of  these  sunken  strata  are  high 
ridges  and  mountains,  containing  coal  seams  unknown  to  the  area 
we  have  previously  considered.  These  seams  and  the  strata  accom- 
panying them  are  approximately  horizontal,  but  immediately  on 
their  eastern  extreme  rises  a  peculiar  wall- like  ridge  in  which  the 
strata  are  pitched  at  an  angle  varying  from  twenty  degrees  at  Cum- 
berland Gap  to  sixty  at  Big  Creek  and  Coal  Creek,  to  thirty  at 
Rockwood,  and  losing  its  distinctiveness  as  an  independent  ridge 
south  of  Dayton,  has  its  strata  in  the  mountain  nearly  horizontal. 
This  ridge  of  upturned  rocks  is  called  Walden's  Ridge,  a  name  im- 
properly applied  to  the  arm  of  the  mountain  between  Sequatchie 
Valley  and  the  Tennessee  Valley,  which  is  eight  miles  wide,  and  in 
which  the  strata  are  horizontal. 

This  Walden's  Ridge  is  an  ouflier  of  the  Cumberland  Mountain, 
a  vast  wall  of  upturned  rocks,  ranging  from  six  hundred  to  twelve 
hundred  feet  high.  This  singular  formation  is  best  seen  north  of 
Big  Emery  Gap.  A  base  line  drawn  horizontally  through  the 
ridge  at  that  Gap  or  at  Coal  Creek  would  probably  give  a  width  of 
twelve  hundred  feet.  The  line  of  demarcation  between  the"inclined 
strata  of  Walden's  ridge  and  the  horizontal  layers  of  the  Cumber- 
land mountains  is  sharp  and  well  defined.  Within  a  few  feet  one 
steps  from  the  almost  vertical  sandstones  of  Walden's  ridge  to  those 
of  the  Cumberland  mountain  lying  horizontal.  Behind  he  sees  the 
steep  inclined  crags  of  the  Ridge,  and  in  front  the  shules,  slates, 


(  16  ) 

and  sandstones  lying  one  on  the  other.  This  ridge  is  most  contin- 
uous and  conspicuous  in  its  tilted  strata  from  Big  Emery  Gap  to 
near  Careyville,  but  those  peculiar  characteristics  are  gradually  les- 
sened to  the  southwest  from  Emery  Gap  until  near 'Day ton  the  dip 
of  the  strata  is  very  slight,  and  as  stated  the  distinction  between  the 
two  is  lost.  The  greatest  action  of  the  down- throw,  therefore,  took 
place  between  Emery  Gap  and  Careyville,  and  again  from  Carey- 
ville  to  Cumberland  Gap.  To  its  action,  says  Prof.  Lesley,  is  due 
the  preservation  of  the  numerous  beds  of  coal  in  the  high  mountains 
on  Poplar  Creek,  at  Winter's-  Gap,  on  Coal  Creek  and  at  Big  Creek 
Gap. 

The  peculiar  relation  of  these  strata  to  each  other  is  best  illus- 
trated by  the  following  diagram : 


(17) 


The  accompanying  cut  will  give  an  idea  of 
^raphy  of  Tennessee,  and  the  relation  which 
the  higher  coal  measures  bear  to  the  East 
Tennessee  Valley  and  the  Middle  Tennessee 
Basin,  as  well  as  the  faults  which  have 
brought  the  varied  strata  to  the  surface  on 
the  eastern  side  of  the  Cumberland  Mountain. 
It  would  be  almost  impossible,  in  so  small  a 
space,  to  show  fully  the  peculiar  uplift  of  the 
Walden's  Kidge. 

Further,  the  cut  shows  the  mountain  lime- 
stone too,  far  up  the  mountain  on  the  east- 
ern side,  and  does  not  make  the  coal  meas- 
ures there  thick  enough  in  proportion  to  the 
thickness  given  to  the  mountain  limestone  and 
the  siliceous  formation.  The  Clinton  at  the 
eastern  base  of  the  mountain,  though  a  very 
important  formation  as  carrying  the  valuable 
red  fossil  .iron  ore,  is  omitted,  because  very 
narrow.  For  the  same  reason  the  Devonian 
is  also  left  out,  because  it  has  only  one  mem- 
ber represented,  the  black  shale,  which  though 
very  persistent,  is  nowhere  over  75  feet  thick, 
and  reaches  that  only  at  Cumberland  Gap. 

This  cut  very  fairly  represents  a  line  across 
the  State  from  Hickman,  Ky.,  through  Nash- 
ville, Crossville,  Kingston  and  Maryville,  to 
the  North  Carolina  line.  Farther  south  would 
strike  the  Sequatchie  Valley,  farther  north 
the  Irregular  Mountains. 

I.  Is  the  Knox  Dolomite. 

II.  Nashville  and  Trenton. 

III.  Siliceous. 

IV.  Mountain  Limestone. 

V.  Cretaceous. 

VI.  Tertiary  and  Quaternary. 

VII.  Alluvium. 


the  peculiar  topo- 
-MISS  a 


NASHVILLE 


KNOXVILLE 


(18) 

The  following  sections  taken  by  Prof.  Bradley  near  Little  Emery 
Gap  and  at  Coal  Creek  will  illustrate  the  position  of  the  strata. 
Commencing  on  the  western  edge  of  the  valley  we  have  : 

1.  Red,  greenish  and  yellowish  shales,  includ- 

ing two  bands  of  red  fossil  iron  ore 103  to  150  ft.  thick. 

2.  Black  shale 90  « 

3.  Black  and  drab  shales 26  to  117  " 

4.  Green  and  drab  shales... 3  to    24  " 

5.  Limestone  with  heavy  bands  of  chert 160  " 

6.  Shale  or  shaly  limestone 125  " 

7.  Blueish  drab  fossil  limestone ..  35  to  200  " 

8.  Shales  with  Coal  No.  1 150  to  200  " 

9.  Thin  bedded  sandstone 45  to    50  " 

10.  Dark,  drab  compact  sandstone...., 40  to    50  " 

11.  Gray,  ferruginous  shales  with  Coal  No.  2.             170  " 

12.  Heavy  bedded  fine  sandstone 25  " 

13.  Clay  shales,  part  sandy,  with  Coal  No.  3..             180  " 

14.  Heavy  bedded  sandstone,  mostly  conglom- 

eric  just  above  Coal  No.  4 140  to  150  " 

15.  Hard  drab  shales 2  to      3'  " 

16.  Coal  No.  5 3  to      4  " 

17.  Ferny  shales,  some  sandy 40  to      4  " 

18.  Heavy  bedded  fine  sandstone 31  to      4  " 

19.  Soft  clay  shales 2  to      4  " 

20.  Heavy    bedded,    ferruginous    sandstone, 

light  colored,  part  pebbly 5  " 

21.  Sandy  shales 8  " 

22.  Heavy  bedded,  coarse  and  fine  sandstone..               53  "• 

23.  Shales 8  " 

24.  Heavy  bedded  sandstone 47  u 

25.  Shaly  sandstone 10  to    15  " 

26.  Dark,  drab  clay  shale,  with  fine  clay 5  to      6  " 

27.  Coal  No.  6 3  to      6  " 

This  seam  of  coal  Prof.  Bradley  believes 

to  be  the  equivalent  of  the  seam  worked 
at  Rockwood  and  at  Tracy  City,  and 
he  is  undoubtedly  correct. 

28.  Dark    drab    to    black    and    ferruginous 

clay    shales 25  to    30  " 


(19) 

,'  f 

29.  Shaly  sandstone 12  to    16  ft.  thick. 

30.  Shales 70  to    80      « 

31.  Heavy  bedded  sandstone 40  to    45      " 

32.  Sandy     shale    and    ironstones,     probably 

Coal  No.  7 180  to  200      " 

33.  Irregularly  bedded  sandstone 50  to    70      " 

34.  Ferruginous  shales  with  beds  of  iron  stone.  90  to  100      " 

35.  Shales,  shaly  sandstones,  thin 225      " 

36.  Heavy  bedded  sandstone 153      " 

36.     Sandstones,  shales,  sandy  and  thin 193      " 

This  ends  the  vertical  rocks,  and  up  the  mountain,  across  the 
little  stream  which  divides  it  and  the  ridge,  about  700  feet  of 
shales  and  sandstones  are  noted,  containing  five  seams  of  coal.  The 
ridge  at  this  point  is  higher  and  the  mountain  not  so  high  as  at 
Coal  Creek.  At  the  latter  place  Prof.  Bradley  made  the  following 
section : 

COMMENCING  IN  THE  EDGE  OF  THE  VALLEY  : 

1.  Limestone,  part  cherty 100  to  300  feet 

2.  Sandstones  and  shales  (coal  1) 200  to  300  " 

3.  Heavy  bedded  sandstones 50  to  60  " 

4.  Shales  and  sandstones,  thin  laid 150  " 

5.  Coal  No.  2 1J  to  2  " 

6.  Dark  compact  clog  shales  55  to  60  " 

7.  Heavy  bedded  sandstones 30  to  35  " 

%  8.  Shales  and  sandstones 55  " 

9,     Coal  No.  3 3  to  4  « 

10.  Shales  and  sandstones 40  to  50  " 

11.  Hard  dark  shale 15  to  20  « 

About  this  point  is  the  change  from  vertical 

to  horizontal  rocks,  the  creek  runs  on  the 
line  of  change. 

12.  Underdog 2    to        4  " 

13.  Coal  (No.  4,  first  of  the  horizontal) 1J  to        2J  " 

14.  Clay  shales,  flag-stones,  sandstones 35  " 

15.  Drab  to  black  clog  shale  with  ironstone 30  f, 

16.  Shales  and  sandstones 30    to      40  " 

17.  Underclay 1    to        2  " 

18.  Coal  No.  5-2  of  horizontal  seams 4    to        6  " 


(  20) 

19.  Claystone 15  feet, 

20.  Clay  and  coal  mixed 1  " 

21.  Coal  (6-3)... IJto        2J  " 

22.  Laminated  sandstone 12    to      15  " 

23.  Clay  shales  with  iron-stone 130    to    150  " 

24.  Sandstones 40  " 

25.  Coal  (7-4  of  horizontal) 2    to        3  " 

26.  Black  slaty  shale 2  " 

27.  Sandstones  and  shales.. 140  u 

28.  Black  slaty  shale.. " 

29.  Coal  (8-5  of  horizontal).... 2  " 

30.  Shales  and  sandsones 190  " 

31.  Coal  (9-6) '....  ?  " 

32.  Black  bituminous  shales. ..  10  " 

33.  Shales  and  sandstones 290  " 

34.  Laminated  sandstones 30  ^L 

35.  Coal  (10-7)... 3J  " 

36.  Shales  and  heavy  clifty  sandstones 180  " 

37.  Coal  (11-8) 2J  " 

38.  Shale..... 10  " 

39.  Coal  (12-9) 3  " 

40.  Shales  and  sandstones 100  " 

41.  Coal  (13-10) • ?  " 

42.  Shales  and  sandstones 110  " 

43.  Coal  (14-11) ?  " 

44.  Shales  with  thin  sandstones 350  " 

45.  Coal  (15-12) 5    to        7  " 

46.  Shales  with  some  heavy  sandstones 309  " 

47.  Coal  (16-13) 2J  " 

48.  Shales  and  heavy  sandstones 20  " 

49.  Coal  (17-14) 1J  « 

50.  .Shales  and  sandstones 10  " 

51.  Coal  (18-15) 1  « 

52.  Shales  with  irregular  ironstones 20  " 

53.  Coal  (19-16)..-. 3J  " 

54.  Udner-clay  and  sandy  shales 20  " 

55.  Coal  (20-17) , 1J  « 

56.  Shales  and  heavy  sandstones 80  " 

57.  Coal  (21-18) •  J  « 

58.  Shales  and  sandstones 200  " 


(21  ) 

From  the  above  it  is  seen  that  there  are  at  that  place  eighteen 
seams  of  coal  in  the  horizontal  strata  above  water  level,  and  that 
seven  of  these  are  over  two  and  a  half  feet  thick,  making  a  total  of 
thirty- one  feet  of  workable  coal,  with  a  possibility  that  beyond  the 
outcrops,  the  others  also  exceed  that  thickness. 

It  has  been  assumed  that  the  vertical  seams  of  Walden's  Ridge 
go  down  under  and  become  horizontal.  From  the  slope  and  drift 
now  being  made  at  Rockwood,  this  appears  to  be  true.  That  there 
is  below  water  level  a  great  thickness  of  coal  measures  is  proven 
by  the  boring  of  the  salt  well,  made  by  E,  A.  Read,  at  Winter's 
Gap.  The  well  was  sunk  just  west  of  the  junction  of  the  horizon- 
tal and  vertical  rocks,  in  the  former.  A  record  of  the  boring  is  as 
follows  : 

SURFACE. 

1  to  8  feet.  Mixed  sand  and  clay. 

8  to  10     "  Quicksand. 

10  to  12     «  Slate. 

11  to  12     "  Fire  clay. 

12  to  14     "  Very  good  coal. 

to     40     "        Mostly  slate  rock,  with  seams  of  hard  shaly 

rock,  and  thin  seams  of  coal. 
40  to     43     "        Very  hard  rock. 
40  to     43     "        Black  gritty  slate. 
44  to     73     "        Mostly  slate. 
73  to     75     "        Seam  of  coal. 
75  to     90     "        Slate  rock. 
90  to     91     "        A  crevice — tools  dropped. 
A    91  to  137     "        Quite  hard  slate,  gritty  seams  in  it. 
137  to  139     "        Seam  of  soft  coal. 
139  to  147     u        Mixed  fire  clay  and  seams  of  coal. 
147  to  160     "        Slate  and  some  small  seams  of  soft  coal. 
B  160  to  282     "        This  ro'ck  is  very  hard,  most  of  the  122  feet 
particles  of  mica  in  it,  a  few  pieces  coarse 
and  soft,  and  very  white. 

282  to  283     "        Small  seam  of  slate. 

283  to  330     "        Sand  rock,  some  fine  white  seams. 

A  330  to  383     "        Mostly  black  slate,   some  seams  of  fine  clay 

then  hard  shale — the  sand  pumped  out 
soon  turned  rusty.  Struck  a  little  salt- 
water river  at  383 


(22) 

383  to  399     "        Found  here  the  hardest  rock  we  ever  struck. 

389  to  427     "         Very  hard. 

427  to  431     "        Black  rock,  water  oily. 

431  to  464     "        Dark  slate. 

464  to  490     "        Good  sand  rock  to  drill. 

490  to  514     "        Hard  slate. 

514  to  523     "        Rock  resembling  soapstone  very  much. 

523  to  560     "        Very  hard  rock,  white  when  dry. 

560  to  584  "  Hard  rock,  salty  to  the  taste,  and  turned 
rusty  on  exposure. 

584  to  588  "  A  crevice  of  about  15  inches  with  sweet 
water. 

588  to  600     "        Hard  rock. 

At  this  point  the  drilling  was  stopped. 

A  well  had  previously  been  bored  at  this  place  by  Prof.  Esta- 
brook,  a  gentleman  of  high  scientific  attainments  and  much  energy. 
Mr.  E.  F.  Wiley,  who  assisted  him  in  the  work,  informs  me  that 
one  of  the  seams  of  coal  they  passed  through  was  three  feet  thick. 
He  did  not  remember  the  exact  depth  below  the  surface.  The 
water  from  both  these  wells  was  weak,  not  over  six  degrees.  Prof, 
Estabrook,  at  considerable  expense,  erected  high  walls  of  briers  to 
condense  the  water,  and  made  considerable  salt,  until  his  briers 
were  burned  by  some  vandals.  Mr.  Read  expended  a  great  deal  of 
money,  but  from  defective  tubing  the  surface  water  was  not  kept 
out,  and  in  view  of  the  cheapness  of  manufacturing  salt  in  Virginia 
and  on  the  Kanawha,  combined  with  cheap  transportation,  it  was 
not  deemed  profitable  to  go  into  the  manufacture  on  an  extensive 
scale.  During  an  examination  of  Mr.  Read's  operations  for  some 
Knoxville  gentlemen,  I  made  salt  from  the  water  he  was  pumping 
out  at  the  rate  of  one  bushel  to  two  hundred  gallons  of  water. 

On  the  western  side  of  the  coal  field  the  general  dip  of  the  strata 
is  slightly  to  the  northeast.  The  elevation  of  the  sub- carboniferous 
limestone  on  the  mountain  side-  near  Tracy  City  is  about  sixteen 
hundred  feet  above  the  sea.  On  a  direct  east  line,  near  the  foot  of 
Walden's  Ridge,  the  same  rock  is  only  about  seven  hundred  feet 
above  the  sea;  on  the  line  of  the  Tennessee  &  Pacific  road,  in  Put- 
nam county,  the  limestone  is  about  fourteen  hundred  feet  above  the 
sea,  while  in  a  direct  east  line,  near  Winter's  Gap,  in  the  valley 
where  its  position  is  nearly  vertical,  and  it  is  supposed  to  dip 


(23) 

under  the  mountain  with  the  other  inclined  strata,  its  outcrop 
is  only  eight  hundred  feet  above  sea  level.  The  level  of  the  valley 
at  Cowan  is  nine  hundred  and  seventy-three  feet  above  sea  level, 
and  the  level  of  the  Sewanee  seam  at  Tracy  City  is  nine  hundred 
and  forty-nine  feet  higher.  This  seam  dips  to  the  southeast  about 
eight  feet  to  the  mile ;  hence  from  a  location  in  Fentress,  in  the 
fifty  miles  distance  to  Winter's  Gap,  it  would  be  deep  down  under 
the  horizontal  strata  of  the  high  mountains,  though  coming  up 
again  above  the  valley  in  the  inclined  strata  of  Walden's  ridge. 

As  stated,  at  Tracy  City  this  seam  is  1,952  feet  above  the  sea, 
while  at  the  Soddy  Mines,  very  near  a  direct  east  line  from  Tracy, 
the  elevation  of  the  same  seam  is  1,221  feet  above  the  sea  level ; 
the  seam  at  both  places  being  approximately  horizontal,  but  show- 
ing a  fall  of  701  feet  in  the  thirty  miles  distance.  But  this  is  not 
practically  accurate  as  a  uniform  descent,  for  Sequatchie  Valley  in- 
tervenes and  the  fault  which  made  that  valley  has  thrown  the  sub- 
carboniferous  limestone  high  up  on  the  side  of  the  mountain  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  valley,  though  not  nearly  as  high  as  it  is  near 
Tracy,  and  from  my  observation  on  the  mountain,  I  am  satisfied 
that  on  the  top  of  the  so-called  Walden's  Ridge,  near  the  Se- 
quatchie Valley,  the  dip  of  the  coal  strata  is  for  a  short  distance 
very  rapid  to  the  east.  On  the  west  side  of  the  valley  the  lime- 
stone is  much  lower  down  the  side  of  the  mountain,  and  the  coal 
dips  slightly  to  the  west.  This  feature  is  a  prevailing  one  in  the 
neighborhood  of  all  faults.  The  coal  seams  at  Coal  Creek  and  on 
Poplar  Creek  both  having  a  western  dip  for  a  short  distance,  then 
forming  a  basin  followed  by  a  gentle  rise  to  the  west ;  the  former 
caused  by  the  influence  of  the  Walden's  Ridge  fault,  the  latter  by 
the  great  Sequatchie  Valley  synclinal  and  the  still  greater  Cincin- 
nati axis. 

Towering  high  above  the  valley,  in  Anderson,  Morgan  and 
Campbell  counties  is  the  series  of  mountains  heretofore  mentioned. 
They  reach  an  altitude  of  over  three  thousand  five  hundred  feet 
above  sea  level,  and  contain  coal  seams  to  their  very  summits. 
Here  is  the  equivalent  of  the  Upper  Measures  of  Pennsylvania. 
And  it  is  safe  to  assume  that  the  carboniferous  strata  in  this  region, 
estimating  by  the  data  derived  from  the  boring  of  the  salt  well  at 
Winter's  Gap,  attain  a  thickness  of* full  four  thousand  feet  in  a  di- 
rect vertical  line  from  the  top  of  the  American  Knob,  or  Brushy 


(  24 

Mountain  to  the  lowest  sub-conglomerate  coal.  At  Careyville 
Dr.  Safford  determined  the  elevation  of  Cross  Mountain,  with  nine 
seams  of  coal,  to  be  three  thousand  three  hundred  and  seventy  feet 
above  the  sea,  and  two  thousand  three  hundred  and  twenty-nine 
feet  above  the  valley.  This  is  at  the  northeastern  end  of  the  Upper 
Measures,  as  the  still  higher  Brushy  Mountain  is  near  the  south- 
western end.  In  this  distance  of  about  forty  miles,  is  the  series  of 
high  ranges  and  peaks  alluded  to  above.  Hence  we  have  in  this 
district  an  area  of  about  two  thousand  square  miles,  the  greater 
portion  of  which  contains,  above  water  level,  from  foujp  to  seven 
seams  of  coal  over  three  feet  thick ;  thus  showing,  in  this  part  of 
the  Tennessee  coal  field  alone  an  extent  of  thickness  and  a  number 
of  seams,  available  in  the  future,  beyond  the  previous  calculations 
of  geologists. 

For  comparison  a  section  of  the  Pennsylvania  measures  is  given 
below  as  published  in  "  Coal  and  its  Topography/'  by  Prof.  J.  P. 
Lesley,  and  here  copied  from  Dana's  Geology,  commencing  at  the 
millstone  grit  and  numbering  up  : 

1.  Coal  [A]  with  four  feet  of  shale  6  feet. 

2.  Shale  and  mud  rock 40  " 

3.  Coal  [B]  equivalent  of  Mammoth 3  to    5     " 

4.  Shale  with  some  sandstone  and  iron  ore 20  to  40     " 

5.  Fossiliferous  limestone 10  to  40     " 

6.  Buhr  stone  and  iron  ore 1  to    1J  " 

7.  Shale ' 25  " 

8.  Coal  [C]  Kittaning  and  Peytona  Cannel 3J  " 

UPPER   MEASURES. 

1.  Mahoning  sandstone 75  feet. 

2.  Coal  [F] 1 

3.  Shale,  variable  but  considerable  thickness 

4.  Shaly  sandstone 30 

5.  Red  and  blue  calcareus  marls 20  " 

6.  Coal  [G] 1  « 

7.  Limestone'  fossiliferous 2  " 

8.  Slates  and  shales , 100  " 

9.  Grey  clayey  sandstone 70  " 

10.  Red  marl  ^ 15  " 

11.  Shale  and  slaty  sandstone 10  <c 


(25) 

/  f 

12.  Limpstone,  not  fossiliferous 3  feet. 

13.  Shales 32  " 

14.  Limestone 3  " 

15.  Red  and  yellow  shale  12  " 

16.  Limestone 4  " 

17.  Shale  and  sand 30  " 

18.  Iron  ore  spathic 15  " 

19.  Limestone 1  to    1|  " 

20.  Pittsburg  Coal  [H] 8  to    9     " 

21!     Shale,  brown  ferruginous  sandy 30  " 

22.  Sandstone,  gray  and  slaty 25  " 

23.  Shale,  yellow  and  brown 20  " 

24.  Limestone,    (the  meat  includes  two   seams  of 

Coal,  1  and  2J  feet).. 20  " 

25.  Shale  and  sandstone 17  " 

26.  Limestone 1  " 

27.  Shale  and  sandstone 40  " 

28.  Coal  [K] 6  " 

29.  Shale,  brown  and  yellow 10  " 

30.  Sandstone,  coarse  brown 35  " 

31.  Shale 7  feet. 

32.  Coal  [K] li 

33.  Limestone  4,  Shale  4,  Limestone  4,  Shale  3....   15  " 

34.  Shale  10,  Sandstone  20,  Shale  10 40  " 

35.  Coal  [M]. 1  " 

36.  Sandstone  with  4  feet  of  shale 24  " 

In  the  Tennessee  coalfield  the  corresponding  seams  to  this  classi- 
fication would  be : 

A.  A  small  thin  seam,  found  at  Sewanee  mines. 

B.  No.  6,  at  Emory  and  Rockwood,  of  the  inclined  strata;  the 

main  Soddy  seam  and  the  Sewanee  seam  of  the  horizontal 
strata. 

C.  The  slate  seam  at  Etna  and  Daisy,  No.  2  of  those  worked  at 

Soddy,  not  recognized  elsewhere. 

D.  The  Kelly  coal  of  Etna  and  Daisy,  and  No.  3  of  Soddy. 

E.  Walker  coal  of  Etna  and  Daisy. 

F.  Beneath  water  level  at  Coal  Creek. 

G.  No.  4,  of  Bradley's  Coal  Creek  section. 


(26) 

H.  The  seam  now  worked  at  Coal  Creek  and  Poplar  Creek  does 
exist  in  Tennessee  south  of  Big  Emery  River,  No.  5,  of 
Bradley. 

No  doubt  identical  with  6  and  7  of  Bradley. 

I  Correspond    in    location    to     8,    9    and     10,    of    Bradley; 
*    ^      leaving    10,    11,    12,    13,  14,  15,  16,  19  and    20  existing 
above,  and  in  addition  to  the  seams  of  Pennsylvania. 


J 


Lesquereaux  in  his  classification  of  the  Kentucky  coals,  has  four 
seams  of  coal  between  G  and  H,  and  classes  the  Pittsburg  coal  as 
No.  11  of  the  Kentucky  series.  The  seam,  however,  in  which  he 
finds  the  supposed  identity  is  in  the  Western  Kentucky  field.  The 
peculiarity  of  the  Pittsburg  coal  bed  is  an  upper  seam  of  somewhat 
shelly  coal,  in  the  upper  part  of  which  are  some  bands  of  sulphur, 
then  a  shale  parting,  then  a  body  of  excellent  coal  in  lamina,  then 
another  shale  parting,  then  a  seam  of  hard  firm  coal.  In  the 
Connellsville  region  it  is  known  that  the  middle  bench  makes  the 
best  coke.  The  same  partings  exist  at  Coal  Creek  and  Poplar 
Creek,  and  in  the  tests  lor  coke-making,  it  has  been  admitted 
that  the  middle  bench  there  will  make  a  coke  equal  to  any  in  the 
world.  By  the  classification  and  section  made  by  Mr.  Lesquereaux, 
-No.  15  of  Bradley's  section  would  be  the  same  as  his  Mulford  coal 
and  the  Pittsburg  seam.  The  matter  is,  however,  of  but  little 
practical  importance,  as  even  if  identical,  it  might  not  have  the 
same  good  qualities,  it  being  well  known  that  coal  seams  will  vary 
in  their  characteristics  in  a  few  miles  ;  a  notable  instance  of  this 
is  found  in  the  Pennsylvania  coalfield,  even  in  the  Pittsburg  seam 
itself.  At  Valley  Works  the  coal  is  of  great  excellence  and  purity, 
while  at  Latrobe,  about  twenty  miles  north,  near  the  rim  of  the 
field,  the  coal  is  so  impure  that  it  is  thought  necessary  that  it  should 
be  washed  to  make  good  coke.  Actual  manufacture  and  use  is  the 
true  test,  but  this  will  be  discussed  and  analyses  given  in  another 
part  of  this  book. 

As  to  the  identity  of  the  Sewanee  seam  there  is  more  positive 
evidence.  The  roof  is  abundant  in  impressions  of  Lepidodendra, 
and  this  species  is  found  only  in  the  Lower  Coal  Measures,  and,  in 
fact,  in  those  but  sparsely  above  seam  B.  No  traces  of  these  plants 
is  found  in  the  roof  of  the  seam  worked  at  Coal  Creek. 


(  27) 

A  very  remarkable  feature  of  the  Tennessee  coalfield  is  the  utter 
absence  of  limestones,  which  are  abundant  in  Western  Pennsylvania. 
Though  the  geology  of  our  coalfield  has  not  been  thoroughly  in- 
vestigated, sufficient  is  known  to  show  that  if  having  any  at  all,  the 
limestones  do  not  exist  in  our  coalfield  in  the  number  or  thickness 
found  in  Pennsylvania.  In  our  coalfield,  however,  the  clay  iron 
stones  or  bands  and  nodules  of  carbonate  of  iron  are  very  abund- 
ant, especially  in  the  lower  measures.  The  sub- carboniferous  lime- 
stone exists  in  a  very  short  distance  of  the  coal  seams  both  on  the 
eastern  and  western  sides. 


O3ST 

COA.L  M 

OF  THE 

State  of  Tennessee. 


BY  HENRY  E.   COLTON,  INSPECTOR 


Dr.  A.    W.  Hawkins,   Commissioner  of  Agriculture,  Statistics   and 
Mines  : 

The  following  report  is  submitted  for  your  consideration.  I  re- 
gret that  time  has  not  been  allowed  to  make  it  more  complete : 

The  coal  area  of  the  State  is  estimated  as  comprising  5,100  square 
miles.  While  some  of  the  seams  of  coal  in  this  area  are  spread 
over  its  whole  extent,  yet  there  are  portions  of  it  quite  distinct  in 
topographical  features,  as  well  as  in  the  quantity  and  characteristics 
of  the  coal  they  contain.  In  other  States  such  distinctions  are 
classified  under  the  name  of  districts.  No  such  classification  has 
ever  been  made  in  our  State  from  the  reason,  probably,  that  the 
coal  interest  of  the  State  is  in  its  infancy,  and  has  heretofore  been 
confined  to  only  a  portion  of  the  whole  field.  Such  a  classification 
is  necessary,  from  the  fact  that  the  geological  strata  are  different  ; 
that  the  topography  of  the  respective  sections  is  entirely  dissimilar. 
The  markets  to  which  the  coal  is  transported  are  seldom  the  same, 
and  in  great  measure  the  coals  are  distinct  in  character  and  the  uses 
to  which  they  are  applied.  At  the  same  time  there  exists  in  Ten- 


(30) 

nessee  a  wonderful  freak  of  nature,  by  which  coals,  geologically 
hundreds  of  feet  lower,  are  brought  up  in  close  proximity  to  those 
of  a  later  age,  and  also  adjoining  formations  created  far  anterior  to 
the  carboniferous  strata.  This  peculiar  uplift  of  the  lower  carbon- 
iferous rocks  is  called  the  Walden's  Ridge,  and  extends  from  Cum- 
berland Gap  to  Dayton,  in  Rhea  County.  In  it  the  coals  are  in- 
clined at  an  angle  ranging  from  20°  to  40°,  and  as  the  system  of 
mining  in  it  is  entirely  different  from  that  of  the  horizontal  seams, 
it  should  be  strictly  classed  in  a  district  to  itself,  but  as  the  coals 
are  the  same  as  those  found  in  the  nearly  horizontal  strata  south- 
west of  Dayton  and  in  the  Raccoon  Mountain,  I  have  thought  best 
to  class  all  under  one  head,  making  merely  a  sub-head  of  horizontal 
seams. 

Again,  the  great  development  of  Upper  Measure  coals  on  the 
waters  of  Coal  and  Poplar  creeks,  are  undoubtedly  the  creation  of 
one  era  of  the  carboniferous  period,  but  the  routes  by  which  they  reach 
the  markets  are  so  dissimilar,  that  I  have  thought  best  to  class  them 
under  different  heads.  I  have  further  adopted  the  plan  of  classing 
as  the  "East  Tennessee  Coal-field"  all  the  area  east  of  the  Sequat- 
chie  Valley  on  the  southwest,  and  a  line  therewith  northeast  to  the 
Kentucky  line,  using  as  a  distinction  Chattanooga  division  and 
Knoxville  division.  I  have  classed  as  the  Plateau  district  all  those 
coals  found  north  of  the  divide,  between  the  waters  flowing  into 
the  Cumberland  and  those  flowing  into  the  Tennessee.  This  should 
properly  include  the  Sparta  region,  but  as  these  coals  seek  a  market 
entirely  different  from  the  others  farther  east,  on  the  Cincinnati 
Southern  and  the  Elk  Fork,  they  will  be  classed  in  the  "  Middle 
Tennessee  Coal-field.  The  Elk  Fork  country  contains  some  of  the 
upper  coals,  and  is  reached  from  Knoxville,  hence  will  be  classed 
under  that  division. 

Another  mode  of  classifying  these  coals,  which  is  also  adopted  in 
other  States,  and  in  mineralogy  is  by  characteristics  known  as 
coking  and  con- coking.  While  some  of  our  coals  are  better  adapted 
to  making  coke  than  others,  yet  none  can  be  said  to  be  so  specially 
adapted  to  that  purpose  as  to  be  very  poor  for  any  other  use. 
Some  are  superior  to  others  for  use  in  the  blacksmith  shop,  in  fact> 
may  be  said  to  have  special  value  for  that  purpose.  The  hard 
block  coals  of  the  sub- conglomerate  measures  are  so  much  more 


(  31  ) 

valuable  for  steam  and  grate  use,  and  also  stand  transportation  so 
well  that  those  may  be  said  to  be  their  special  use,  at  the  same  time 
our  best  coking  coals  are  excellent  for  steam  and  grate  purposes, 
combining  a  series  of  good  qualities  unsurpassed  by  any  other  coals 
in  any  section. 

The  classification  I  have  adopted  is  as  follows  : 

EAST  TENNESSEE. — Knoxville  Division. — Elk  Fork  district,. 
Careyville  district,  Coal  Creek  district,  Elk  Fork  district.  Chatta- 
nooga Division — Poplar  Creek  district,  Plateau  district,  Wai- 
den's  Ridge  district  (inclined  and  horizontal). 

MIDDLE  TENNESSEE. — Sewanee  district,  Sparta  district. 


EAST  TENNESSEE. 

KNOXVILLE    DIVISION, 


The  area  which  contains  the  coals  of  the  upper  series  commences 
abtfut  eight  miles  northeast  of  the  Little  Emery  river,  and  extends 
to  a  point  about  ten  miles  southwest  of  Cumberland  Gap,  the  north- 
western boundary  being  somewhat  like  a  half  circle.  The  south- 
eastern is  the  peculiar  outlying  ridge  I  have  mentioned  as  Wai- 
den's  Ridge,  which  has  an  almost  continuous  northeast  and  south- 
west direction.  This  area  comprises  the  Poplar  Creek  district,  the 
Coal  Creek  district,  and  the  Careyville  district. 

In  the  immediate  outer  vale  of  this  area,  the  Walden's  Ridge,  the 
inclined  coals  are  to  be  found,  but  they  are  not  now  worked  at  any 
point  in  East  Tennessee  southeast  of  the  Emery  river. 

The  Elk  Fork  district  has  not  been  thoroughly  examined,  and 
perhaps  geologically  belongs  to  the  Plateau  district  of  lower  and 
middle  coals,  but  in  the  division  as  to  transportation,  it  is  tributary 
southwards  to  Knoxville,  and  hence  will  be  classed  in  that  division 
of  the  East  Tennessee  coal-field. 


ELK  FORK  DISTRICT. 

This  district  comprises  an  area  north  and  west  of  the  Pine 
Mountain  fault,  and  tributary  to  the  Ohio  division  of  the  East 
Tennessee,  Virginia  and  Georgia  Railroad.  Its  southwest- 
ern boundary  is  the  ridge  dividing  the  waters  of  the  Cumber- 
land and  Tennessee,  and  it  is  really  an  extension  of  the  Plateau 
district,  with  more  coals  than  are  there  found,  the  coals  farther  west 
being  those  of  the  lower  series,  which  in  Jellico  are  beneath  the 
water's  level..  The  principal  openings  in  this  district  are  in  Jellico 
Mountain,  about  sixty  miles  from  Knoxville,  five  miles  from  the 
State  line,  and  one  hundred  and  eighty  miles  from  Louisville. 

This  is,  without  doubt,  to  be  one  of  the  most  important  coal  dis- 
tricts of  the  Tennessee  coal-field.  The  Pine  Mountain  fault  acting 
vigorously  to  the  northeast,  has  there  caused  the  preservation  of 
some  of  the  Upper  Measures.  In  the  measures  as  here  presented 
are  found  seven  seams  of  coal,  only  two  of  which  are  now  known 
to  be  over  three  feet  in  thickness.  These  two  are  respectively 
thirty-six  and  fifty-two  inches  thick,  the  latter  being  the  highest  up 
the  mountain.  These  seams  all  rise  slightly  to  the  northwest,  and 
also  have  an  upward  strike  to  the  southwest,  the  location  of  the 
workable  coals  commencing  about  ten  miles  from  the  point  of  the 
summit  of  the  fault  at  Elk  Gap.  From  thence  these  coals  are  con- 
tinuous to  the  Ohio  River  through  eastern  Kentucky.  The  excel- 
lent facilities  of  transportation  afforded  by  a  well  constructed  trunk 
line  of  railroad,  tapping  the  large  cities  of  the  West  through  two 
channels,  and  from  its  southern  outlet  radiating  to  three  different 
sections  of  the  South,  with  the  proximity  of  the  coal  to  that  railroad 
affords  unusual  facilities  for  the  transaction  of  a  large  business. 

THE  STANDAED  COAL  AND  COKE  COMPANY, 

One  of  the  operators,  is  composed  of  Tennessee  capitalists;  Presi- 
dent and  principal  owner,  E.  E.  McCroskey,  Knoxville.  The 
opening  is  three  fourths-of  a  mile  from  the  main  line  of  the  rail- 
road at  Newcombe  Station.  They  have  1,400  acres  of  land  under- 
laid by  a  seam  of  coal  four  and  one-half  feet  thick.  The  mine  is 
well  opened.  Mr.  McCroskey  states  that  he  has  opened  the  lower 
seam,  three  feet  thick,  and  that  it  makes  a  much  better  coke  than 
the  upper  seam. 


(33) 

THE   JELLJCO   COAL   AND   COKE   COMPANY. 

Is  composed  of  capitalists  chiefly  from  Lexington,  Ky.  Their 
opening  is  one  and  three-fourths  miles  from  the  main  track,  and 
they  have  entries  driven  so  that  as  soon  as  transportation  and  de-. 
mand  permit,  they  can  easily  mine  and  ship  200  tons  per  day. 
They  have  about  1,500  acres  underlaid  with  the  four  and  one-half 
foot  seam.  Five  other  seams  have  been  opened  in  this  district, 
but  of  less  importance  than  the  seam  worked  as  above. 

The  coal  from  the  main  seam,  as  analyzed  by  Dr.  Peter,  of  Ken- 
tucky, gives: 

Moisture 2.36 

Volatile  matter 36.44 

Fixed  Carbon , 60.60 

Ash  (salmon  color) 1.60 

Sulphur 1.16 

Fuel  ratio 1  to  1.93 

There  is  a  slate  parting  in  the  middle  of  the  seam  where  the 
mining  is  done.  The  dip  is  slightly  upwards  to  the  northwest. 

The  Jellico  Coal  &  Coke  Company  report  that  in  1882  they  paid 
out  $5,000  for  wages  and  $2,000  for  mine  supplies;  that  they  have 
employed  fifty  hands,  and  paid  $2.50,  $2.75  and  $3.00  for  driving 
entries.  The  main  entry  is  700  feet  long,  by  7x6  in  size.  No  coal 
shipped  yet.  The  ordinary  country  schools  and  churches  are  in  the 
vicinity.  No  liquor  sold  within  three  miles.  The  officers  of  this 
company  are  :  Col.  Sam  L.  Woolridge,  President ;  Mort  Mitchell, 
Secretary  and  Treasurer;  Bret.  E.  Hitchcraft,  General  Agent; 
Jas.  W.  Fox,  Superintendent,  Lexington,  Ky.;  and  Horace  E.  Fox, 
Assistant  Superintendent,  Newcombe,  Campbell  county,  Tennessee. 

THE   EAST   TENNESSEE   COAL,   COMPANY, 

which  has  been  operating  a  mine  at  Coal  Creek,  have  also  opened 
mines  in  this  district,  immediately  at  the  State  line. 

A  number  of  other  openings  have  been  made  on  a  small  scale  in 
this  region,  chiefly  for  prospecting. 

CAREYVILLE  DISTRICT. 

Though  at  present  of  little  note  in  the  sum  total  of  coal  mined 
and  shipped,  yet  this  area,  which  is  really  a  continuation  of  the 
Coal  Creek  section,  will  at  no  very  distant  day  be  of  con- 
siderable importance.  Only  one  mine  is  now  worked  there, 
and  it  to  a  small  extent.  The  owners  of  this  mine,  known 
as  the  Campbell  County  Coal  Company,  deserve  great  credit  for 
the  pluck  and  perseverance  they  have  shown  in  their  operations. 
3 


(34) 

The  seam  formerly  worked  was  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  and 
was  very  irregular,  hence  costly  to  operate.  This  seam  was  aban- 
doned in  1881,  and  an  entry  commenced  on  a  seam  about  200  feet 
(vertical  height)  higher  up  the  mountain.  In  this  seam  a  good 
coal  three  and  one-half  to  four  feet  thick  has  been  reached,  and 
gives  every  appearance  of  being  persistent  with  a  possibility  of 
increase  in  thickness.  .  From  the  fact  that  their  work  has  been 
rather  of  exploration,  but  little  coal  has  been  shipped. 

The  Campbell  County  Coal  Company  lease  from  the  Wheeler 
Iron  &  Coal  Company,  paying  one  cent  per  bushel  royalty;  shipped 
in  1882,  2,000  tons,  valued  at  $14,000  at  the  mine;  have  employed 
twenty-one  hands,  and  paid  out  in  wages  $9,500 ;  selling  price  of 
coal  at  the  mine  has  averaged  seven  cents  per  bushel ;  for  mining 
coal,  three  cents  per  bushel  was  paid;  for  driving  entries,  $3.00  to 
$3.50  per  yard;  the  average  daily  earnings  of  the  miners  was 
$1.50;  the  main  entry  is  800  feet  long,  7x5  J  feet;  free  school  has 
been  taught  in  the  neighborhood  for  four  months;  the  cost  of  living 
has  been  about  thirty-three  and  one-third  per  cent  above  the  aver- 
age, and  rents  a  little  higher  than  formerly.  H.  P.  Stone,  Agent, 
Postoffice,  Careyvile. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Careyville,  but  in  the  series  of  pitched 
seams,  Messrs.  Queener  and  Geers  opened  a  seam  of  coal.  It  had 
been  formerly  worked,  and  a  slope  driven  down  on  the  seam.  The 
gentlemen  named  extended  the  slope  and  operated  the  mine  for  a 
short  time.  The  slope  went  down  at  an  angle  of  30°  for  about  210 
feet,  the  seam  then  went  off  nearly  horizontal  for  a  short  distance, 
and  then  pitched  down  again  for  twelve  feet ;  it  then  became  hori- 
zontal for  about  forty  feet,  when  a  slight  dip  was  encountered,  and 
at  the  bottom  of  it  the  mine  was  abandoned.  The  coal  taken  from 
it  was  of  good  quality,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted  that  the  operators 
had  not  the  means  to  go  farther.  The  mine  opening  is  in  200  yards 
of  the  railroad.  This  seam  is  undoubtedly  the  Sewanee,  but  hav- 
ing the  pitch  given  it  by  the  Walden's  Ridge  fault ;  the  ridge  itself, 
however,  being  here  nearly  gone. 

Between  the  town  of  Careyville  and  Elk  Gap,  near  the  line  of 
the  railroad,  a  number  of  openings  have  been  made  on  the  land  of 
the  East  Tennessee  Coal  &  Iron  Company.  In  two  miles  of  Carey- 
ville one  of  these  shows  a  26-inch  seam  of  excellent  coal.  This 
railroad  follows  the  course  of  Cove  Creek,  which  runs  in  a  norlfe 


(35) 

and  south  fault,  hence  near  it  the  strata  are  more  or  less  disturbed, 
especially  near  Elk  Gap,  but  at  a  distance  of  about  half  a  mile  to 
the  west  this  disturbance  ceases,  and  the  mountains  rise  so  as  to 
contain  better  and  more  regular  coal  seams.  For  seven  miles  on 
the  east  the  Fork  Mountain  fault  exists,  and  the  coal  seams,  if  ex- 
isting, have  not  been  found.  No  regular  work  has  ever  been  con- 
ducted on  this  company's  land,  but  they  have  lately  reorganized 
under  the  management  of  Mr.  A.  L.  Maxwell,  of  Knoxville,  a 
gentleman  of  great  energy  and  address,  who  is  rabidly  settling 
up  contesting  claims,  and  this  large  and  valuable  property  will 
soon  be  open  for  operations. 

The  peculiarity  of  the  strata  is  very  well  illustrated  by  the  fol- 
lowing cut,  taken  from  a  report  on  this  region  made  by  Prof.  J.  P. 
Lesley.  The  point  at  which  it  was  taken  is  about  seven  miles  from 
Careyville,  and  there  the  strata  have  so  subsided  that  the  Kennedy 
seam,  called  Careyville  coal,  has  sunk  beneath  water  level.  This 
is  again  brought  up,  however,  as  Elk  Gap  is  approached,  by  the 
line  of  the  Sequatchie  Valley  fault.  At  the  point  at  which  the 
section  is  made  the  railroad  is  built  just  on  the  right  bank  of  Cove 
Creek.  If  valuable  coals  are  found  in  this  section  the  facilities  for 
handling  and  shipment  will  be  equal  to  those  of  any  mining 
regions.  The  section  is  as  follows  : 


(36) 

A  mine  was  formerly  worked  in  Careyville,  on  the  Carey  landsx 
but  apandoned  some  time  since,  though  by  no  means  worked  out. 
There  are  also  other  seams  on  this  property,  which  is  now  owned 
by  Mr.  Rothschild,  of  Detroit.  The  seam  formerly  worked  at 
Careyville  is  probably  the  same  as  the  Sewanee.  In  1871  and  1872 
about  20,000  tons  of  coal  per  annum  were  shipped  from  Careyville. 
The  old  mines  are  in  what  is  called  the  Kennedy  seam,  it  had  every 
characteristic  of  the  Sewanee  coal.  The  old  Carey  mine  could  yet  be 
worked  with  success  if  properly  opened,  and  a  large  amount  of 
coal  could  yet  be  obtained  from  it.  The  seam  noted  heretofore  as 
now  worked  by  the  Campbell  County  Coal  Company,  is  about  three 
hundred  feet  higher,  vertical  elevation.  There  is  here,  without  doubt, 
a  valuable  series  of  coals  which  have  passed  unnoticed,  as  the  local- 
ity has  unjustly  gotten  into  bad  repute  on  account  of  the  erratic 
manner  in  which  the  mining  operations  have  been  conducted. 

Eight  miles  from  Careyville  a  good  seam  of  coal  has  been  opened 
on  G.  W.  Sharp's  land,  on  Pine  Mountain.  This  seam  is  six  feet 
thick,  with  a  parting  of  fire  clay  six  or  eight  inches  thick.  The 
upper  seam  is  three  and  a  half  feet  thick,  and  is  a  hard  cubical  coal 
of  excellent  quality ;  then  comes  the  fire  clay,  and  below  a  seam  of 
cannel  coal.  This  is  a  valuable  bed  of  coal,  and  the  clay  parting 
is  an  excellent  material  for  a  "  mining,"  that  is,  a  valueless  matter 
to  cut  away  so  as  to  give  r.oom  to  prize  the  coal  down.  The  cannel 
could  be  prized  up,  if  found  sufficiently  valuable.  The  roof  is 
good.  Below  this  seam  there  are  four  other  seams  of  coal.  In  the 
creek  at  this  point  and  in  the  narrow  valley  adjoining  the  strata  are 
nearly  vertical,  but  in  the  ridges  and  mountains  on  each  side  they 
are  nearly  horizontal.  Sharp's  coal  is  probably  continuous  in 
the  mountains  on  the  west  side  of  the  creek,  though  no  doubt  at  a 
different  level ;  no  coal,  however,  has  yet  been  found  in  the  Cum- 
berland field  corresponding  with  it  in  the  peculiar  characteristics  of 
the  seam. 

The  pitch  of  the  strata  in  the  creek  is  shown  in  the  following 
section  taken  from  the  before-mentioned  report  of  Prof.  Lesley. 
Sharp's  main  coal  is  seen  above  the  "  Fortress  "  rock  on  the  right. 
This  creek  is  the  largest  fork  of  Cove  Creek,  it  rises  in  a  few  miles 
of  Carey ville,  flows  north  on  the  east  side  of  Fork  Mountain,  joins 
the  other  branches  and  then  runs  south  to  Careyville.  The  uplifted 
strata  on  the  left  represents  Fork  Mountain  here  giving  out.  The 
whole  region  contains  many  wonderful  freaks  of  nature. 


Prof.  Lesley  found  on  the  west  side  of  Cove  Creek  a  seven  foot 
seam,  and  also  two  others  respectively  three  and  four  feet  thick.  A 
practical  miner  who  has  studied  this  country,  considers  this  thick- 
ness of  seven  feet  as  merely  local,  but  that  a  good  five  foot  seam  may 
be  found.  Prof.  Lesley  thinks  these  seams  belong  to  the  Upper 
Measures,  and  that  when  opened,  may  be  relied  upon  to  furnish  a  per- 
manent and  regular  supply  of  coal.  The  downthrow  which 
commences  near  Carey ville,  reaches  in  the  distance  to  Elk 
Gap,  a  depression  probably  as  great  as  that  of  the  more 
southern  measures  at  Cove  Creek  and  Winter's  Gap,  and 
hence  the  upper  coals  may  be  here  preserved  as  at  those 
points.  It  is  possible  that  the  Sharp  coal  may  be  below  the 
surface  on  the  west  side  of  Cove  Creek,  er  that  it  may  be  identical 
with  the  seam  found  by  Prof.  Lesley,  and  thought  to  be  seven  feet 
thick.  The  disputed  position  of  these  coals  make  it  very  difficult 
to  identify  them  with  any  others  in  the  field  farther  to  the  south. 

THE  COAL  CEEEK  DISTRICT. 

The  stream  from  which  this  district  derives  its  name,  unlike 
its  neighbor  on  the  southeast,  comes  through  Walden's  Ridge 
by  a  single  channel,  and  inside  the  gap  its  forks  are  merely 
one  to  the  right  and  one  to  the  left,  hence  this  region  has  not 
such  advantages  for  a  great  output  of  coal  as  the  Poplar  Creek 
region,  which  will  be  treated  of  hereafter.  .  The  main  moun- 
tain also  abuts  up  to  Walden's  Ridge,  being  only  separated 


(38  ) 

from  it  by  the  narrow  valley  of  the  creek  bed;  hence,  from  ita 
proximity  to  the  disturbed  strata,  or  rather  to  the  line  of  the 
dislocation,  its  influences  have  had  some  effect  on  the  horizontal 
measures.  The  first  or  lateral  area  on  the  two  forks  of  Coal 
Creek,  available  for  coal  openings,  is  not  more  than  ten  miles,  and 
to  the  northeast  the  strata  are  much  disturbed,  while  on  the  south- 
west but  little  or  no  exploration  has  been  done.  The  streams  run- 
ning westward  into  the  mountain  are  short  and  their  sides  precipi- 
tous, hence  offer  poor  accommodation  for  mining  plants;  therefore 
all  large  operations  must  be  made  on  the  front.  The  great  draw- 
back to  this  district,  and  which  will  work  to  its  injury  when  other 
fields  are  opened  to  transportation,  is  the  excessive  royalty  charged 
for  the  coal  in  the  ground.  This  is  twenty-five  cents  per  ton,  or 
one  cent  per  bushel,  being  more  than  twice  as  much  as  the  average 
royalty  of  the  whole  United  States,  that  average  being  fourteen 
cents  per  ton.  The  following  is  the  average  royalty  in  the  various 
States,  derived  from  the  census  returns : 

Alabama 16 

Georgia 12  J 

Illinois 9 

Indiana 15 

Iowa 23 

Kentucky 14 

Maryland , 11 

Ohio 17 

Pennsylvania 14 

Tennessee , 25 

Virginia 13 

West  Virgi  nia 15 

The  reason  why  this  excessive  royalty  is  maintained  :  The  Coal 
Creek  Mining  &  Manufacturing  Company  owns  nearly  all  the  coal 
lands  on  Coal  Creek.  The  stock  of  this  corporation  is  owned,  one- 
half  by  a  gentleman  in  New  York  City  and  the  residue  by  various 
parties.  The  royalty  now  yields  about  $40,000  a  year  income,  of 
which,  taxes  off,  the  New  York  gentleman  gets  full  $18,000,  and 
yet  has  never  spent  a  dollar  to  improve  or  develop  the  property.  Of 
course  he  does  not  intend  to  lessen  his  income  until  he  is  forced  to 
do  so,  and  the  other  stockholders  cannot  make  any  change  of  policy* 


(  39) 

This  excessive  royalty  will  in  the  end  result  to  the  benefit  ot  the 
State,  as  it  will  cause  the  opening  of  other  mines,  which  could  have 
been  prevented  by  a  more  far-sighted  and  wise  policy.  The  mines 
of  the  Carey ville  and  Elk  Fork  districts  will  be  effective  rivals, 
especially  as  the  railroad  has  proposed  to  take  coal  from  them  to 
Knoxville  at  very  near  the  same  rates  as  from  Coal  Creek. 

This  excessive  royalty  also  works  to  the  injury  of  the  land  com- 
pany itself,  as  the  operator  brings  out  only  such  coal  as  will  sell  to 
the  best  advantage,  and  works  the  mines  on  the  cheapest  plan  he 
can  with  safety  to  his  men  and  property.  The  land-owning  com- 
pany constantly  speaks  of  the  railroad  freight  rates  as  too  high,, 
but  the  railroad  has  repeatedly  stated  that  when  the  royalty  is  re- 
'  duced  they  will  reduce  rates.  As  will  be  seen  further  on  in  my 
report,  as  far  as  the  Southern  market  is  concerned,  this  stubborn- 
ness is  likely  to  create  a  successful  rival  on  Poplar  Creek. 

There  never  has  been  any  accurate  and  full  survey  of  the  Coal 
Creek  district,  nor  in  fact  any  part  of  the  East  Tennessee  coal  field. 
The  only  data  from  which  information  can  be  obtained,  is  from  a 
brief  report  of  a  reconnoisance  made  by  Prof.  Bradley,  which  from 
that  gentleman's  well-known  ability  as  a  geologist  as  well  as  care 
in  conducting  this  work,  may  be  assumed  to  be  at  least  approxi- 
mately correct.  From  the  bottom  of  the  creek  at  the  railroad 
bridge,  just  at  the  foot  of  the  creek,  and  inside  the  Walden's  ridge, 
where  the  horizontal  strata  commence,  to  the  top  of  the  Big  Butte 
Peak,  Prof.  Bradley  found  eighteen  seams  of  coal.  All  these  in  the 
horizontal  strata  above  water  level,  while  in  the  pitched  seams  of 
the  Walden's  ridge,  he  found  three  more.  Of  these  eighteen  seams 
he  thinks  there  are  eight  two  and  a 'half  feet  and  over  in  thickness. 
The  seam  now  worked,  he  classes  as  seam  E,  and  is  the  second 
above  the  creek.  It  is  probably  the  equivalent  of  the  noted  Pitts- 
burg  and  Youghiogheny  seam.  This  seam  may  be  always  relied 
upon  for  four  feet  of  good  coal,  though  the  area  of  coal  and  shales 
frequently  reaches  six  feet.  The  shales  and  thin  coals  are  in  the 
top,  there  being  usually  about  four  feet  of  coal  on  the  bottom  in 
two  bands,  separated  by  one  to  two  inches  of  shale.  The  mining 
is  usually  done  on  top  and  prize  up,  especially  in  the  Knoxville 
Iron  Company's  mine,  some  of  the  others  mine  underneath  and 
throw  down.  Powder  is  but  little  used  except  in  entries. 

As  the   use  of  this  coal  has  been  chiefly  for  domestic  purposes, 


(40) 

only  two  or  three  of  the  mines  are  worked  the  entire  year,  and 
those  are  operated  with  a  reduced  force  over  the  winter  months. 
For  this  reason  the  price  of  mining  is  greater  than  if  the  miner 
could  make  every  day  in  the  year ;  he  must  make  enough  in  one 
hundred  and  fifty  or  two  hundred  days  to  take  care  of  such  part  of 
the  other  one  hundred  that  he  may  be  out  of  a  job.  The  use  of 
this  coal  for  steam  generating,  both  in  stationary  boilers  and  in 
locomotives,  is  rapidly  increasing.  The  East  Tennessee,  Virginia 
and  Georgia  railroad  first  made  experiments  for  using  it  in  their 
locomotives  inf!875;  now  it  is  used  by  fthem  entirely,  is  .used 
largely  by  the  Norfolk  and  Western,  the  Richmond  and  Danville, 
the  Georgia  Central,  and  the  Georgia  railroad,  and  negotiations  are 
in  progress  for  its  use  on  South  Carolina  roads.  But  the  great 
success  of  a  coal  mining  operation  is  in  supplying  iron  furnaces  and 
manufactories.  The  only  iron  works  at  present  supplied  solely 
from  Coal  creek  is  that  of  the  Knoxville  Iron  Company  at  Knox- 
ville.  The  foundries  at  that  city  get  most  of  their  coke  from  Etna, 
and  not  a  single  iron  furnace  is  tributary  to  the  Coal  Creek  district 
for  coal  or  coke. 

The  excellent  quality  of  the  Coal  Creek. coal  has  been  attested 
by  many  years  of  use,  and  though  the  roof  over  the  coal  is  good, 
and  mining  can  be  conducted  very  cheaply,  yet  it  is  probable  that 
the  limit  of  production  there  has  been  reached  and  is  more  likely 
to  fall  back  than  to  increase.  Its  development  before  other  sec- 
tions was  caused  by  the  construction  of  the  Knoxville  and  Ohio  to 
that  point  and  its  failure  for  many  years  to  be  continued  more  than 
a  few  miles  beyond.  This  road  has  been  and  is  always  likely  to  be 
its  only  outlet,  and  though  it  .is  popular  to  complain  against  its 
managers,  yet  they  are  as  liberal  in  freight  rates  as  the  own- 
ers of  the  coal  lands  in  royalty.  They  charge  less  for  the  use  of  a 
property  for  which  they  paid  hundreds  of  thousands  of  dollars,  on 
which  they  pay  taxes  to  State  and  county,  and  for  the  improve- 
ment of  which  they  annually  expend  thousands  of  dollars,  than 
the  Coal  Creek  Mining  and  Manufacturing  Company  does  for 
the  use  of  their  property  which  cost  them  but  little  more  than  the 
conduct  of  some  lawsuits,  on  which  they  pay  comparatively  low 
taxes,  and  expend  nothing  for  improvements,  and  which  property 
to-day  would  be  worth  but  little,  had  the  Knoxville  and  Ohio  road 
gone  through  Big  Creek  Gap,  where  it  was  intended  by  its  original 


(41) 

charter  to  have  gone.  The  connections  of  this  road  under  the  same 
management  into  Georgia,  North  Carolina  and  Virginia  offer  great 
facilities  for  reaching  various  markets.  The  reports  of  the  operators 
sent  in  to  me  state  that  freight  rates  are  lower  than  two  years  ago. 

Under  a  law  enacted  by  the  Legislature,  forbidding  the  sale  of 
intoxicating  liquor  within  four  miles  of  an  incorporated  school, 
such  sale  is  kept  away  from  the  neighborhood  of  the  mines.  There 
are  two  churches  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  mines ;  a  free  school 
is  taught  four  months  of  the  year,  and  a  subscription  school  for 
ten  months. 

The  Coal  Creek  mines  were  first  opened  for  shipping  coal  on  the 
completion  to  that  place  of  the  Knoxville  and  Ohio  railroad  in 
1870.  The  annual  shipments  have  been  as  follows  : 

YEAR.  TONS. 

1871 36,000 

1873 46,006 

1874 36,816 

1875 62,369 

1876 57,459 

1880 150,000 

1882 200,000 

An  increase  in  ten  years  of  over  500  per  cent,  and  estimating  the 
value  at  the  mines  at  the  average  of  seven  cents  per  bushel  or  $1.75 
cents  per  ton  has  increased  from  a  valuation  of  $63,000  in  1871  to 
$;:>50,000  in  1882.  In  1871  only  three  mines  were  actively  at  work 
on  Coal  creek,  part  of  the  coal  for  that  year  coming  from  Carey- 
ville,  and  they  employed  about  one  hundred  hands  ;  two  more  were 
preparing  to  operate.  Now  there  are  seven  employing  five  hundred 
hands,  and  giving  support  to  fully  five  times  as  many  persons.  At  the 
same  time  to  feed  the  operatives  and  the  stock  used  in  the  mines, 
thousands  of  dollars  worth  of  provisions  and  provender  are  annu- 
ally bought  from  the  farmers.  For  a  short  time  there  was  a  de- 
pression on  account  of  the  employing  of  convicts,  and  the  general 
apathy  of  business,  but  now  the  town  has  recovered,  many  new 
houses  have  been  built,  both  for  dwellings  and  business,  and  the 
general  appearance  of  the  place  indicates  that  its  people  are 
prospering. 

The  mode  of  mining  and  interior  arrangement  of  all  the  mines 
on  Coal  Creek  is  nearly  the  same.  The  system  of  ventilation  is  by 


(42  ) 

an  entry  parallel  to  the  main  entry,  with  fire  and  flue  near  the  en» 
trance.  Only  one  mine  has  a  double  sized  main  entry  and  a  double- 
track  therein,  all  others  are  seven  feet  wide  by  5  to  6J  high.  The 
cross  entries  are  cut  every  thirty-six  yards,  usually  seven  feet  wide, 
five  to  six  feet  high.  Pillars  thirty-six  feet  wide  are  left  between 
the  entries  and  between  rooms,  the  rooms  twelve  to  fourteen 
yards  wide  by  twenty- four  yards  long. 

The  following  is  a  detailed  statement  of  the  mines ; 

THE   KNOXVILLE   IRON    COMPANY 

During  the  year  1882,  shipped  98,645  tons  of  coal  to  various 
markets  in  Southwest  Virginia,  North  and  South  Carolina, 
Georgia  and  Alabama.  The  value  of  the  coal  shipped  waa 
at  the  mines  $135,437.57.  The  price  of  coal  ranged  from  five 
to  eight  cents  per  bushel.  The  amount  invested  in  mining 
plant  is  $50,000.  The  company  employs  as  high  as  one  hun- 
dred and  sixty  men,  of  whom  one  hundre.d  and  thirty  are  con- 
victs ;  the  average  number  employed  during  the  year  has  been  one 
hundred  and  twenty- five.  The  sum  of  $58,854  was  paid  out  in 
wages,  and  $10,164  for  mine  supplies.  Their  main  entry  is  fourteen 
feet  wide  and  three- fourths  of  a  mile  long,  the  side  entries  are 
7x5  feet.  Free  labor  is  paid  three  cents  per  bushel  for  mining, 
and  the  cost  of  mining  has  increased  about  twenty-five  per  cent 
over  1880.  Provisions  and  rents  are  also  higher  in  price.  The 
average  earnings  of  the  miners  is  $3  per  day.  The' company  works 
their  convicts  and  some  free  labor  all  the  year,  but  works  a  full 
force,  full  time  only  one  hundred  and  fifty  days.  W.  R.  Tuttle,  of 
Knoxville,  is  president,  Capt.  Jno.  F.  Chumbley  in  general  charge 
of  the  mines,  Jno.  L.  Davis,  assistant,  and  John  Hightower  has 
oharge  of  the  mining  operations. 

This  company  conducts  the  largest  operation  on  the  creek,  and 
its  business  is  very  well  managed.  Its  facilities,  both  inside  and 
out  for  handling  coal,  have  capacity  for  producing  a  larger 
quantity,  at  -less  expense  than  any  other  company  at  present 
on  Coal  creek.  Their  entry,  however,  is  somewhat  unfortunately 
located,  but  probably  as  good  as  could  be  obtained  from  the  area  of 
land  which  they  were  allowed  to  work.  Their  main  entry  is  1,300 
yards  long,  and  is  of  double  size,  so  as  to  admit  two  tracks  the 
whole  distance.  The  ventilation  is  accomplished  by  a  parallel 


(43) 

entry,  and  is  very  perfect.  This  parallel  entry  is  also  arranged  to. 
serve  as  a  second  outlet  to  the  mine,  in  case  of  accident.  In  this, 
entry  a  deep  sump  has  also  been  cut  to  which  all  the  water  of  the 
mine  will  flow.  The  seam  dips  for  some  distance  on  the  main 
entry  into  the  mountain,  at  the  rate  of  two  inches  to  every  eight 
yards ;  hence  the  necessity  of  the  sump  alluded  to,  and  also  of  a 
steam  engine  for  pumping.  This  water  was  formerly  a  great  incon- 
venience, but  the  present  drainage  will  be  effectual  and  permanent^ 
thereby  taking  off  one  item  of  expense.  This  mine  is  well  opened 
and  the  underground  arrangement  well  planned.  About  fifteen, 
per  cent  of  the  amount  cut  down  by  the  miners  is  slack,  which  ia 
not  brought  out  but  is  raked  back.  There  is  therefore  in  this  mine 
not  less  than  100,000  tons  of  waste  slack,  which  but  for  the  excess- 
ive royalty  might  be  put  to  some  use. 

This  company's  mines  are  worked  somewhat  'differently  from  the 
others,  their  main  entry  is  fourteen  feet  wide  and  six  feet  high ;  air- 
way seven  feet  wide  and  five  feet  high  to  higher  ;  cross  entries  are 
seven  feet  wide  by  five  feet  high ;  the  rooms  are  worked  three 
hundred  feet  long  by  forty-one  feet  wide.  The  pillars  on  the  side 
of  the  main  entry  are  thirty-six  feet  thick,  between  the  rooms  the- 
pillars  are  left  twenty-one  feet  thick.  The  mining  operations  of 
this  company  are  very  well  conducted,  and  its  executive  manage- 
ment of  the  best  character. 

This  company  had  January  1st,  1883,  130  convicts,  though 
their  usual  number  is  only  100;  their  number  of  free  laborers  range 
from  thirty  to  fifty.  They  work  their  mine  all  summer  though 
with  reduced  force.  The  convicts  are  leased  from  the  lessees  of 
the  Penitentiary,  and  the  price  paid  is  private.  It  is  estimated> 
however,  that  the  total  of  leasing,  feeding,  clothing  and  guarding 
amounts  to  $1.20  per  day  for  each  convict.  Their  task  in  digging 
coal  is  100  bushels  per  day,  and  most  of  them  easily  get  through^ 
even  in  winter,  before  dark.  They  make  some  money  for  them- 
selves by  extra  work,  and  also  by  making  trinkets  out  of  the  thin 
cannel  coal,  which  they  sell  to  visitors.  Their  quarters  are  clean 
and  comfortable,  and  they  are  evidently  well  cared  for,  it  being 
clearly  the  pecuniary  interest  of  the  company  to  have  them  healthy 
and  able  to  do  work.  They  are  supplied  with  abundance  of  fresh 
meat  in  winter,  and  vegetables  in  summer.  Dr.  Smith,  a  young 
physician  of  great  skill,  is  employed  by  the  company,  is  always  ia 


(44) 

Attendance,  and  it  is  a  part  of  his  duty  to  inspect  their  quarters 
every  day.  Capt.  Chumbley  says  his  idea  of  the  best  way  to  cure 
disease  is  to  prevent  it,  and  if  it  comes,  to  attack  it  in  its  earliest 
stages. 

THE   BLACK   DIAMOND   MINING   COMPANY 

Have  large  tracts  of  land  leased,  some  of  which  is  again  sub- 
leased, but  they  ship  coal  from  only  one  mine,  known  as  the 
Black- Diamond.  In  1882,  they  shipped  30,000  tons  of  coal 
to  various  points  in  Tennessee,  Georgia,  South  Carolina  and 
Mississippi.  The  value  of  the  coal  shipped  was  $40,000  at 
the  mines.  They  worked  fifty  hands  whose  usual  earnings  were 
§2.25  cents  per  day,  and  paid  out  $25,000  in  wages  and  $10,- 
000  for  mine  supplies.  The  price  of  coal  at  the  mine  ranged 
from  five  to  eight  cents  per  bushel.  The  price  paid  per 
bushel  for  mining  is  three  cents;  for  driving  entries  $2.75  to 
$3.25.  Their  main  entry  is  one-half  a  mile  long.  The  usual  full 
time  worked  is  200  days.  Freight  rates  are  lower  than  two  years 
ago,  and  the  cost  of  mining  has  increased.  Capt.  B.  F.  Kooney  is 
superintendent.  The  mine  is  very  well  ventilated,  has  two  outlets 
and  has  natural  drainage.  The  shute  and  outside  track  arrange- 
ments are  excellent,  the  shute  and  tipple  especially.  T.  H.  Heald 
is  agent,  Knoxville  Tenn. 

THE    STAR   COAL   COMPANY 

In  1882,  shipped  24,000  tons  of  coal  to  Chattanooga  and  Knox- 
ville, Tennessee,  Atlanta,  Rome  and  Augusta,  Georgia,  Greens- 
boro and  Salisbury,  North  Carolina,  which  was  valued  at  the 
mines  at  $42,000.  The  average  selling  price  at  the  mine  was  seven 
oents  per  bushel.  The  number  of  hands  worked  was  eighty,  who 
earned  (miners)  from  $2.  to  $3.  per  day,  and  outside  men  $1.  to  $2. 
The  total  amount  of  wages  paid  was  $30,000.  From  two  and  a 
half  to  three  cents  per  bushel  is  paid  for  mining,  and  $3.  to  $5. 
per  yard  for  driving  entries.  The  main  entry  is  9  x  6  feet  and  275 
yards  long;  side  entries  are  7  x  5J  feet.  They  have  an  entry 
parallel  with  main  entry  for  ventilation  and  to  make  a  double 
outlet  to  the  mine.  This  mine  has  only  been  in  operation  one  year. 
James  Frayser  is  superintendent,  and  Thos.  L.  Moses,  Knoxville, 
is  president. 


(45) 

THE  ANDERSON  COUNTY  COAL  COMPANY 

In  1882,  shipped  11,000  tons  of  coal  valued  at  the  mines  at  $17,000. 
The  markets  were  East  Tennessee,  Virginia  and  Georgia.  The  aver- 
age price  of  coal  at  the  mines  was  5J  cents  per  bushel.  The  em- 
ployees numbered  twenty- five,  who  earned  an  average  of  $2.50 
per  day,  and  the  total  wages  paid  during  the  year  were  $11,146,  and 
$551  was  paid  out  for  mine  supplies.  For  mining  three  cents  per 
bushel  is  paid,  and  for  driving  entries  $3.25.  Their  main  entry 
is  7Jx5  feet,  and  is  600  yards  long,  side  entries  the  same  size.  The 
company  has  a  store,  and  sells  about  $6,000  worth  of  goods  per  an- 
num. Chas.  McKarsie  is  superintendent. 

THE  CENTRAL   COAL   COMPANY 

During  the  year  1882,  shipped  23,550  tons  of  coal  to  various 
points  in  Tennessee  and  Georgia,  the  value  of  which  at  the 
mines  was  $35,375.  The  number  of  employees  was  seventy- 
five,  the  miners  usually  earned  $2.50  per  day,  and  $15,662 
was  paid  out  for  wages.  .The  company  keeps  a  store,  but  do 
not  report  any  purchases  for  that  purpose,  or  for  the  mine. 
The  selling  price  of  coal  at  the  mine  is  reported  at  $1.35  to 
$1.75  per  ton.  The  price  paid  for  mining  was  two  and  a  half  cents 
for  mixed,  and  three  cents  for  lump  coal ;  from  $2.50  to  $3.75  per 
yard  was  paid  for  driving  entries.  The  entries  are  7x5  feet,  and 
they  have  1,048  yards  of  entry.  Full  time  was  made  only  one- 
half  the  year.  This  company  leases  the  old  Franklin  mine  from 
the  Black  Diamond  Coal  Company,  and  are  drawing  the  pillars  in 
their  old  mine,  preparing  to  abandon  it.  This  old  mine  had  a  coal 
area  of  about  fourteen  acres,  and  they  obtained  from  it  about  70,- 
000  tons  of  coal.  W.  B.  H.  Wiley  is  superintendent,  Coal  Creek, 
and  Col.  E.  E.  McCroskey  agent,  Knoxville. 

THE   EAST   TENNESSEE   COAL   COMPANY 

In  1882,  shipped  11,760  tons  of  coal  to  Atlanta,  Macon, 
Knoxville,  Bristol,  and  other  points  in  Tennessee  and  Geor- 
gia. The  value  of  this  coal  at  the  mines  was  $18,000;  the 
selling  price  averaged  from  five  to  eight  cents  per  bushel; 
the  number  of  employees  was  forty,  and  the  amount  paid  out  in 
wages  $10,820;  the  amount  paid  out  for  mine  supplies  being 
$2,000.  The  company  does  not  keep  a  store.  The  price  paid  for 
mining  coal  was,  for  mixed  two  and  a  half  cents,  lump  three  centsj 


(46) 

from  $1.25  to  $2.50  per  yard  for  driving  entries.  The  main 
^entry  is  700  yards  long,  7x5  feet.  Daring  1882,  about  175  days 
of  full  time  have  been  worked.  This  mine  has  quite  doubled  the 
number  of  employees  and  their  product  in  the  last  two  years.  Con- 
siderable improvements  have  also  been  made  in  the  mine.  E.  J. 
Davis  is  the  superintendent,  and  Capt.  Jno.  M.  Brooks,  president 
and  agent,  Knoxville. 

THE  COAL   CREEK    MINING    COMPANY. 

Has  been  actively  engaged  during  the  year  driving  a  main 
€ntry  into  the  heart  of  the  mountain,  so  as  to  reach  the  area 
of  a  large  lease  it  controls.  This  entry  was  driven  through 
the  old  workings  of  the  Empire  mine,  which  once  held  an 
area  on  the  face  of  the  mountain,  and  therefore  was  not  only 
costly  but  dangerous,  as  the  pillars  had  long  ago  been  drawn, 
and  the  space  once  occupied  by  coal  was  a  mass  of  "  gob " 
of  the  worst  character,  a  mixture  of  old  props,  slack,  slate  and 
fallen  roof.  A  first-class  entry  has  been  driven  through  this,  lined 
on  both  sides  with  cribbing  or  "  lagging,"  made  of  the  best  of 
white  oak  timbers  about  the  size  and  length  of  railroad  cross-ties 
filled  in  with  stone,  and  where  necessary  the  roof  has  been  supported 
in  equally  as  firm  and  substantial  a  manner  as  the  side  timbering. 
This  entry  is  the  best  piece  of  work  on  Coal  creek,  and  probably 
in  the  south.  In  fact  I  cannot  see  how  it  would  be  possible  to 
surpass  it  in  any  section.  It  is  a  perfect  straight  line  running  N. 
75°  W.,  which  is  at  right  angle  to  the  face  of  the  mountain  and  of 
the  creek,  also  of  the  general  course  of  Walden's  ridge.  It  is  750 
feet  long,  10  feet  wide  by  7  feet  high  ;  therefore  will  -readily  ad- 
mit of  the  use  of  a  mine  locomotive.  At  the  time  of  my  visit,  it 
had  been  driven  a  distance  of  725  feet,  and  the  miners  were  cutting 
through 'the  fault  which  had  stopped  the  operations  of  the  company 
which  worked  the  old  mine.  This  fault  did  not  have  the  course  of 
the  mountain,  but  ran  rather  diagonally  across  the  entry.  The 
course  as  well  as  I  could  determine,  being  N.  75°  E.,  and  S.  75°  W. 
And  I  may  here  add  that  while  the  general  trend  of  the  East  Ten- 
nessee faults,  and  the  valleys  caused  by  them  is  N.  25°  E.,  and 
S.  25°  W.,  that  there  are  also  a  series  of  cross  faults  or  uplifts 
running  across  the  strike  of  the  other  in  a  line  N.  75°  E.,  and  S. 
75°  W,,  and  frequently  cutting  off  or  rather  crowding  out  the 
former.  T.  H.  Heald,  Knoxville,  .IB  President  of  this  company. 


(47) 

HECK    MINES, 

During  the  year  1882,  shipped  coal  to  various  points  in  Virginia, 
North  Carolina  and  Georgia,  as  well  as  Tennessee,  (amount  not 
stated).  The  number  of  men  worked  was  eighty,  who  earned  from 
$1.50  to  $3.00  per  day,  according  to  skill  and  industry,  and  the 
total  amount  paid  out  as  wages  was  $27,868.51 ;  there  was  paid  out 
for  store  supplies  $8,368.20,  for  miner's  supplies  about  $8,000. 
The  selling  price  of  coal  at  the  mine  was  from  5  to  7  cents  per 
bushel.  From  2  to  3  cents  per  bushel  was  paid  for  mining  coal, 
and  from  $2.00  to  $3.75  per  yard  for  driving  entries.  The  main 
entry  is  670  yards  long,  6  feet  high,  8  feet  wide ;  side  entries  5  feet 
high  and  6  feet  wide.  One  man  had  his  leg  broken  by  the  falling  of 
slate,  resulting  from  carelessness.  This  mine  was  opened  and  the 
first  coal  shipped  in  December,  1881.  Eleven  months  of  full  time 
was  made  last  year. 

Mr.  P.  Thomas,  Coal  Creek,  is  Superintendent. 

MARKET   AND    FREIGHT    RATES. 

The  following  are  the  freight  rates  on  the  ton  of  2,000  pounds 
^and  distances  to  various  points  : 

To  Knoxville,  30  miles,  $1.00  for  domestic  coal,  70  cents  for 
manufacturing;  to  Chattanooga,  140  miles,  $1.25  for  all  purposes; 
to  Bristol,  116  miles,  $1.80  for  all  uses;  to  Asheville,N.  C.,  144  miles 
?2.65  ;  (30  miles  of  this  over  W.  N.  C.  E.  E.,  hence  the  higher 
rate,  though  less  distance  than  to  Bristol ;)  Goldsboro,  N.  C.,  464 
miles,  $3.80;  Ealeigh,  414  miles,  $3.60;  Eome,  Ga.,  180  miles, 
$1.90;  S«lma,  Ala.,  378  miles,  $3.00;  Atlanta,  Ga.,  240  miles, 
$2.30  for  domestic,  $2.00  for  steam  and  manufacturing  coal;  Macon 
Ga.,  330  miles,  $2.75 ;  Milledgeville  and  Augusta,  $4.00 ;  Bruns- 
wick, $3.25,  and  Savannah,  $3.50.  Placing  the  coal  at  6  cents  per 
bushel,  $1.§0  per  ton  at  the  mjine,  and  the  cost  of  a  ton  in  Bruns- 
wick would  be  $4.75 ;  at  Savannah,  $5.00.  The  Westmoreland 
and  Youghogheny  coals,  which  are  the  same  as  Coal  creek,  on 
January  24th,  were,  priced  on  barge  in  New  York  City  at  $4.75 
per  ton. 


(48) 


CHATTANOOGA  DIVISION. 

POPLAR  CREEK  DISTRICT. 

Three  of  the  streams  which  are  the  headwaters  of  Poplar 
Creek  come  through  Walden's  Ridge  at  three  different  points, 
thus  making  thorough  cuts,  inside  the  ridge  these  three  streams 
are  divided  into  numerous  branches,  which  give  easy  routes  far 
up  into  the  mountains.  In  this  respect  it  has  the  advantage 
of  Coal  Creek,  where  there  is  only  one  pass  through  the  ridge. 
The  portals  through  which  these  forks  of  Poplar  Creek  come  into 
the  valley  are  known  as  Donnavan's  Cap  and  Winter's  Gap.  The 
latter  is  indiscriminately  applied  to  two  breaks  or  gaps  in  the 
mountain  which  are  only  about  two  hundred  yards  apart,  but  through 
which  two  distinct  streams  flow,  and  the  region  on  the  waters  of 
which  is  separated  by  a  high  ridge  running  back  into  the  main 
mountain.  The  former  is  two  miles  northeast  of  Winter's  Gap,  and 
the  stream  flowing  through  it  is  known  as  Mountain  Fork.  The 
streams  at  Winter's  Gap  are  known  as  Salt  Fork  and  Indian  Fork. 
Seams  of  coal  have  been  opened  on  all  these  creeks,  but  mining 
operations  are  now  only  conducted  on  Indian  Creek. 

The  coal  district  comprising  the  area  to  be  reached  by  the 
various  forks  of  Poplar  Creek  has  more  available  coal  than  any 
other  district  of  the  Tennessee  coal  field,  and  it  is  claimed  that 
the  coal  is  of  better  quality.  There  are  known  to  be  nine  beds 
in  the  Brushy  mountain  alone,  averaging  over  three  feet  thick,  and 
as  most  of  them  have  only  been  measured  at  their  outcrops,  there  is 
no  doubt  that  when  worked  they  will  be  found  to  be  thicker.  And 
besides  those  there  are  the  pitched  seams  in  Walden's  ridge,  which 
have  been  opened  and  tested,  and  also  a  number  below  the  level  of 
the  foot  of  the  mountain  which  have  been  ascertained  to  exist  from 
borings.  The  area  of  coal  lands  tributary  to  •  these  gaps  is  but 
little,  if  any  less  than  500  square  miles,  and  the  facilities  for  reach- 
ing the  coal  seams  from  different  directions  afforded  by  the  various 
valleys  forming  the  beds  of  the  numerous  streams  h'as  not  its  equal 
in  any  coal  area  in  the  southern  States,  if  it  has  in  the  United 


(49) 

States.  Through  these  outlets  a  supply  of  coal  could  be  brought  to 
a  main  line  which  would  tax  its  carrying  capacity  to  the  utmost. 
At  present  the  only  means  of  transportation  is  the  Walden's 
Ridge  Railroad,  which  to  Oakdale  Furnace  and  to  Emery  River,  is  a 
very  well  constructed  narrow  gauge,  but  now  connects  to  the  Cin- 
cinnati Southern  by  a  branch  which  neither  in  construction  or 
grades  will  permit  a  large  burden  of  traffic.  From  Winter's  gap  to 
Otkdile  this  road  is  generally  taxed  to  its  full  capacity  to  carry 
the  coal  needed  at  the  furnace,  and  thence  it  can  do  but  little  more 
than  carry  off  the  iron  made,  therefore  the  prospects  of  great  de- 
velopment of  this  district  are  not  very  encouraging.  With  a  wide 
gauge  railroad  the  product  of  coal  from  there  would  be  very  large, 
as  the  supply  is  inexhaustible,  and  the  distance  to  market  less  than 
from  Coal  Creek. 

Inside  the  gaps  mentioned,  are  first  comparatively  low  ridges ; 
these  extend  back  into  very  high  mountains  in  which  numerous 
seams  of  coal  are  piled  on  top  each  other  in  regular  order,  and  with 
a  general  rise  to  the  northwest,  pass  through  the  mountains  to  the 
side  on  the  waters  of  New  and  Emory  rivers,  thus  giving  an  immense 
area  of  coal  which  can  be  drawn  upon  for  hundreds  of  years.  These 
great  mountains,  a  chain  extending  in  fact  over  40  miles  in  length, 
and  rising  at  intervals  in  peaks  from  2,500  to  2,800  feet  above  the 
level  of  the  waters  of  Poplar  creek,  may  be  attacked  by  the  miner 
at  not  less  than  seven  different  points  which  afford  ample  room  for 
large  mining  plant,  while  their  base  on  the  main  seam  is  not  less 
than  four  miles  to  the  outcrop  of  the  seam  on  the  waters  of  New 
river.  It  is  evident  that  the  area  thus  available  is  very  great;  at 
the  same  time  in  the  ridges  alluded  to,  there  is  another  vast  quan- 
tity of  coal  not  taken  into  this  calculation. 

At  the  time  of  the  survey  of  the  Tennessee  &  Pacific  Railroad, 
Dr.  Saflord  made  a  report  on  the  mineral  wealth  of  this  region, 
from  which  the  following  section  of  the  strata  in  one  of  the  moun- 
tains is  taken  : 

Sandstone  at  top  of  mountain 100  feet. 

Shales  and  sandstones 249  " 

Coal 6  " 

Shales  and  sandstones *.240  " 

Limestone 37  " 

Shale 74  " 

4 


(  50) 

Coal 1  4  feet. 

Shales 40  « 

Sandstone 60  to  80    « 

Shales 50  « 

Coal  [outcrop] " 

Shales  and  sandstones ' 120  to  170    " 

Shales 130  « 

Shales  with  nodular  iron  ore 120 

Coal  [outcrop] 1  " 

Shales 6  " 

Coal  [outcrop  bed  5] 3 

Shales  and  sandstones 110 

Shales  mostly 100  " 

Sandstone 70  to  100    « 

Shale 45  « 

Coal  [with  four  inch  shale  parting] 4  " 

Shales  and  sandstones 180 

Sandstone 50  to  80    " 

Coal 3 

Shale  with  nodular  iron  ore 25 

Sandstone  and  shale 150  " 

Coal  [outcrop] 1  " 

Fire  clay 4  " 

Shale 5  « 

Coal 5  to  7    « 

Fire  clay  and  slate 5  " 

Shale 30  « 

[Foot  of  mountain  nearly.] 

"  This  section  is  a  natural  one,  there  having  been  no  digging  ex- 
cept in  the  lower  bed  of  coal,  all  the  other  exposures  being  mere 
superficial  outcrop.  Notwithstanding,  we  have  nine  beds  presenting 
im  aggregate  thickness  of  twenty-six  feet  of  solid  coal.  If  the 
beds  were  properly  opened  they  would  doubtless  prove  t©  be 
thicker.  The  aggregate  must  be  at  least  thirty-six  feet.  Moreover, 
search  with  picks  and  shovels  would  reveal  other  beds  now  con- 
oealed.  The  coal  beds  below  the  level  of  the  road  at  Winter's  Gap 
are  not  represented  in  the  above  section.  The  lowest  in  the  section 
is  a  splendid  bed.  The  beds  above  are  likewise  accessible,  and  con- 
tain an  amount  of  fuel  of  which  we  have  no  adequate  conception." 


(51) 

The  seam  now  worked  at  Poplar  creek  is  the  same  as  that  known 
as  seam  E  at  Coal  creek,  and  the  only  one  there  worked.  This  seam 
can  be  depended  on  for  four  and  a  half  feet  of  good  coal.  There 
have  been  local  openings  of  seven  feet,  but  it  is  my  opinion  that  in 
the  main  mountain  it  will  be  persistently  four  and  a  half  feet  of 
coal  with  slight  slate  partings,  which  will  give  the  miner  full  five 
feet  of  working  space.  The  lands  in  this  district  are  in  the  owner- 
ship of  various  parties,  not  in  the  narrow  compass  of  a  few  as  at 
Coal  Creek,  and  hence  to  it  may  be  looked  for  a  reduction  of  the 
enormous  royalty  which  has  been  established  at  Coal  Creek,  and 
which  will  ever  drive  off  the  investment  of  large  amounts  of  capital 
and  inauguration  of  large  enterprises.  From  large  operations 
doing  a  great  business  on  a  small  margin  of  profit  can  only  be  ex- 
pected cheap  coal,  and  cheap  coal  and  cheap  coke  are  now  the 
needs  of  our  iron  manufacturing  enterprises. 

The  value  of  this  Poplar  creek  coal  for  coke-making  has  been 
fully  proven  by  the  Oakdale  Iron  Company,  but  will  be  more 
fully  discussed  hereafter.  As  a  steam  and  domestic  fuel,  it  has  no 
superior  among  bituminous  coals.  The  average  quantity  of  ash 
from  several  analyses  is  a  small  amount  over  one  per  cent  less 
than  any  coal  I  have  been  able  to  find  in  a  long  series  of  analyses 
of  Kentucky,  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania  coals  in  my  possession. 

I  have  stated  the  route  of  transit  for  this  coal  as  the  Walden's 
Ridge  Railroad.  This  road  is  chartered  to  connect  with  the  Cincin- 
nati Southern  at  Emery  Gap,  and  to  be  built  to  the  Ohio  branch  of 
the  East  Tennessee  Virginia  and  Georgia.  A  route  has  been  sur- 
veyed to  Clinton  on  that  road.  The  distance  from  the  mines  to 
Emery  Gap  is  eighteen  miles ;  from  that  point  to  Chattanooga  is 
eighty  miles,  and  the  grades  are  so  low  that  large  train  loads  can  be 
carried  at  a  low  cost  of  transportation.  That  is  the  route  by  which 
this  coal  will  seek  a  market,  and  hence  its  classification  has  been 
placed  in  the  Chattanooga  division. 

There  are  now  six  mining  operations  being  conducted'  on  the 
waters  of  Poplar  Creek,  all,  however,  in  their  infancy,  and  the 
work  so  far  being  more  of  preparation  than  for  actual  business. 
The  Oakdale  Iron  Company  mines  extensively  for  its  own  use, 
and  one  other  company  does  a  small  shipping  business,  the  cause 
•of  this  is  stated  above  in  the  fact  of  limited  transportation  facilU 


(52) 

ties.     The  names  of  the  companies  with  some  data  of  their  opera— 
tions  is  as  follows  : 

THE  OLIVER  COAL  Co  A  P  ANY — 

Have  expended  about  $5;000  in  opening  mine,  building  shuter 
and  track. 

THE  SOUTHERN  COAL  COMPANY — 
Have  expended  about  $4,000. 

THE  EUREKA  COMPANY — 

Have  expended  about  .$5,000. 

THE  MT.  CARBON  COAL  COMPAHY — 

Have  shipped  from  one  to  two  cars  per  day  during  the  past 
winter,  but  do  not  furnish  data  of  number  of  hands  or  ex- 
penditure. 

THE  OAKDALE  COMPANY — 

Also  did  not  furnish  full  information,  hence  only  an  estimate 
of  their  product  could  be  made.  Their  operations  were  irreg- 
ular ;  sometimes  mining  200  tons  per  day,  and  again  running 
up  to  400  tons. 

With  proper  transportation  this  is  undoubtedly  destined  to  be 
one  of  the  most  prosperous  sites  of  coal  mining  in  the  Southern 
States.  Not  only  is  the  coal  excellent  for  steam,  for  gas  and  for 
domestic  use,  but  the  fact  that  it  makes  a  first-class  coke  has  been 
fully  demonstrated.  The  fact,  too,  that  the  lands  have  s.  general 
ownership,  and  are  not  in  the  hands  of  a  single  corporation,  will- 
tend  to  create  competition  and  a  larger  business. 

The  pioneer  in  the  coal  business  of  East  Tennessee,  and  probably 
of  the  State,  was  Heijry  H.  Wiley,  of  Anderson  county,  a  native 
of  Virginia,  and  a  land  surveyor  by  profession.  He  endured 
hardships  and  privations  with  perseverance  and  pluck,  but  died 
just  as  the  bright  visions,  of  which  he  had  long  dreamed,  began  to 
be  realities.  Unlike  most  pioneers,  however,  his  children  are  now 
reaping  a  rich  reward  for  his  long  years  of  labor.  Mr.  Wiley 
opened  a  mine  on  Poplar  Creek,  and  for  many  years  boated  coal 
down  to  Huntsville  and  Drcatur,  Ala.,  on  the  uncertain  tides  of 
the 'winter  months.  He  hauled  the  coal  four  miles  to  a  point  below 
the  junction  of  the  four  forks  of  Poplar  Creek,  where  it  was  put  in 


(53) 

fcoats,  floated  out  that  stream  to  the  Clinch,  then  into  the  Tennessee 
and  down  the  then  perilous  navigation  to  its  destination.  The  day 
day  yet  come  when  this  pioneer  mode  of  transportation  with  im- 
proved facilities  will  again  be  the  great  route  of  coal  carriage,  and 
this  coal  find  a  market  in  St.  Louis  and  New  Orleans.  It  is  certain 
that  when  the  Tennessee,  the  Clinch,  E;nrey  and  Poplar  rivers  are 
improved,  as  are  the  Ohio,  the  Monongahala  and  the  Youghiogheny, 
that  the  possibilities  of  reaching  a  Southern  market  from  Tennessee 
will  be  more  probable  at  all  seasons  of  the  year  than  now  from  the 
rivers  above  named  in  Pennsylvania. 

The  surveys  made  by  the  United  States  Government  demonstrate 
that  such  a  feature  is  by  no  means  an  impossibility.  Col.  Gaw,  in 
tis  report  states,  that  with  proper  improvement  of  the  Muscle 
Shoals,  coal  should  be  delivered  from  Emery  River  to  Paducah  for 
twenty-seven  cents  per  ton,  and  Maj.  King  states  that  the  distance 
i)y  his  survey  is  565  miles  from  Kingston  to  Paducah;  it  is  919 
miles  from  Pittsburg  to  Paducah,  and  the  coal  must  come  to  Pitts- 
burg,  down  the  Monongahela,  by  navigation,  which  is  only  reliable 
in  high  water. 

THE  PLATEAU  DISTRICT. 

The  area  which  I  class  as  the  Plateau  District,  has  been  stated;  it 
Commences  on  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway,  just  south  of 
Sunbnght  Station,  the  line  of  boundary  there  being  the  dividing 
Tidge  between  the  waters  of  White  Oak,  which  flaws  north  into  the 
Cumberland,  and  those  of  the  Emory  River,  which  flow  into  the 
Tennessee.  This  ridge  is  a  great  anticlinal  uplift,  the  same  which 
has  broken  and  formed  the  Sequatchie  Valley  on  the  south  and  the 
-Elk  Fork  Valley  on  the  north,  but  not  in  either  of  these  sections 
forming  the  water  divide,  as  it  does  on  the  line  of  the  Cincinnati 
Southern  Railway,  and  immediately  at  the  Elk  Gap  Tunnel  on  the 
Knoxville  &  Ohio.  Through  the  counties  of  Van  Buren  and 
Cumberland  the  strata  of  the  water-divide  ridge  are  apparently 
horizontal  and  underlaid  with  good  seams  of  coal ;  these  are  evi- 
dently gone  at  Triplett's  Gap  and  Tunnel  No.  10  on  the  Cincinnati 
Southern  Railway  and  probably  nothing  but  the  thin  seams  of  the 
Lower  Measures  are  to  be  found.  At  the  same  time  it  must  be 
admitted  that  the  geology  of  this  region  has  not  been  by  any  means 
thoroughly  studied.  But  the  water- divide  on  the  east  of  the 


(54) 

Cincinnati  Southern  line  deflects  to  the  east  and  again  contains 
seams  of  good  coal  even  into  the  Upper  Measures,  through  the 
counties  of  Morgan  and  Anderson  into  Campbell.  In  the  latter 
county,  at  Elk  Gap,  the  measures  are  again  greatly  disturbed,  the 
synclinal  fault  there  striking  the  water-divide,  but  passing  thence 
to  the  north-northeast,  while  the  water-divide  runs  more  nearly 
east,  and  contains  good  seams  of  coal,  until  it  is  lost  by  a  union 
with  the  Walden's  Ridge  fault  at  Cumberland  Gap.  The  line  of 
the  great  Sequatchie  Valley  fault  is  seen,  therefore,  to  be  regular  in 
its  direction  and  its  greatest  action  to  have  been  on  the  south- 
southwest  of  one  extreme  and  the  north-northeast  of  the  other, 
that  its  action  and  the  Walden's  Ridge  downthrow  seem  to  have 
been  in  concert,  and  to  the  former  is  due  the  Cumberland  Plateau 
as  the  latter  is  the  undoubted  cause  of  the  preservation  of  the 
great  area  of  Upper  Measures  in  Morgan,  Anderson  and  Campbell 
counties.  Also  to  the  drop  of  the  strata  on  the  northern  side  of  the 
strata  of  the  anticlinal  is  to  be  attributed  the  preservation  of  the 
Sewanee  seam  almost  constantly  along  the  mountain  on  the  north- 
ern side  of  the  Sequatchie  Valley,  also  the  steady  decrease  of  the 
thickness  of  the  strata  above  that  seam  to  the  north,  and  its  entire 
absence  before  reaching  the  Kentucky  line. 

Near  Triplett's  Gap,  on  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway,  the 
country  is  somewhat  rolling,  and  so  continues  to  beyond  New 
River,  but  nowhere  with  the  high  mountains  which  characterize  the 
region  to  the  east.  In  this  section  two  mines  have  been  opened 
and  extensively  operated  during  the  past  two  years. 

THE  CROOKE  COAL  AND  COKE  COMPANY 

Operate  near  Glenmary  Station.  The  mine  is  about  seventy-five 
feet  higher  than  the  railroad  track,  and  seven  thousand  and  five 
hundred  feet  distant.  This  distance  is  traveled  by  a  narrow  gauge 
track  three  thousand  and  five  hundred  feet  long,  with  a  slight  down 
grade,  on  which  one  mule  pulls  easily  twelve  to  fourteen  mine  cars, 
this  track  reaches  to  the  tipple,  which  is  a  very  complete  piece  of 
work,  probably  the  best  constructed  and  most  perfectly  arranged  in 
the  State.  The  coal  is  sorted  into  large  lump  for  domestic  use, 
small  lump  for  steam,  and  slack,  the  latter  is  made  into  coke.  The 
fieam  of  coal  worked  may  be  said  to  be  constantly  thirty-four 
inches  thick,  of  this  there  is  a  peculiar  shelly  coal  on  top,  ranging 


(55) 

from  four  to  eight  inches  thick,  this  coal  makes  their  slack ;  other- 
wise the  coal  of  their  seam  is  very  compact  and  bears  transporta- 
tion with  very  little  breakage.  Their  mine  is  very  well  ventilated 
and  ha.s  a  number  of  outlets.  The  elevation  of  this  coal  seam  is 
1,462  feet  above  the  sea.  Its  geological  position  has  not  been 
positively  determined.  Mr.  Jno.  H.  Clark,  the  Superintendent  of 
the  mining  operations,  is  an  excellent  Manager  and  good  Engineer. 
For  the  year  ending  December  31,  1881,  45,000  tons  were 
shipped  to  various  points  from  Lexington,  Ky.,  on  the  north,  to 
Augusta  and  Macon,  Ga.,  in  the  South.  The  average  number  of 
hands  worked  during  the  year  was  175,  the  earnings  of  miners 
ranged  from  $2.00  to  $4.50  per  day ;  the  price  per  bushel  paid  for 
mining  being  three  and  a  half  to  four  cents.  The  selling  price  of 
the  coal  at  the  mine  ranged  from  two  cents  per  bushel  for  slack  to 
eight  cents  for  large  lump.  The  main  entry  is  three  thousand  and 
five  hundred  feet  long,  and  there  are  seven  thousand  and  five  hun- 
dred feet  of  side  entries,  all  seven  by  five  feet.  The  mine  was 
opened  in  September,  1881,  the  usual  full  time  worked  is  five  and 
a  half  days  per  week.  There  are  the  usual  common  schools  in  the 
neighborhood,  no  churches  near  by,  and  liquor  is  sold  abundantly 
around  the  railroad  station.  Geo.  W.  Darnall,  Lexington,  Ky.,  is 
President,  Jno.  H.  Clark,  Glenmary,  Superintendent. 

THE   HELENWOOD   MINES 

Are  at  Helen  wood  Station,  on  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway. 
In  the  fall  of  1882  the  company  formerly  operating,  failed,  and 
after  being  in  the  hands  of  a  receiver  for  some  weeks  they  were 
leased  by  A.  B.  Stone  &  Co.,  of  Chattanooga.  These  gentlemen 
state  that  they  have  been  operating  so  short  a  time  that  their  report 
would  be  so  meagre  as  not  worthy  to  publish,  and  that  the  books  of 
the  former  company  are  not  in  their  hands.  A.  C.  Eaton,  of  Helen- 
wood,  is  Manager,  and  F.  I.  Stone,  of  Chattanooga,  Agent. 
An  analysis  of  these  coals  has  been  furnished  as  follows : 

Glenmary.  Helenwood. 

Water 1.67  1.83 

Volatile  matters 34.53  41.29 

Fixed  carbon 61.66  54.24 

Ash 2.15  2.64 

Sulphur 0.50  

Fuel  ratio...  ..1:1.78  1:1.31 


(  56) 

Both  these  mines  ship  north  and  south  over  the  Cincinnati 
Southern  Railway.  The  freight  rates  are  liberal. 

From  the  Crooke  Coal  Company's  mines  to  Chattanooga  is  1151 
miles,  to  Ltxington  144  miles,  to  Cincinnati  223  miles.  .From 
Helenwood  to  Cincinnati  200  miles,  to  Chattanooga  135  miles. 
From  Oakdale  Junction  to  Chattanooga  82  miles. 


WALDEN'S  RIDGE  DISTRICT. 

INCLINED  STRATA. 

The  peculiar  position  of  the  strata  in  what  is  known  as  the  Wai- 
den's  Ridge,  from  Cumberland  Gap  to  a  few  miles  south  of  Daytonf 
has  been  previously  alluded  to,  and,  as  stated,  this  peculiar  freak  of 
nature  in  placing  the  strata  exists  over  a  long  area  of  country. 
Probably  the  most  accurate  estimate  of  this  region  was  that  placed 
upon  it  by  Prof.  Lesley,  formerly  Assistant  Geologist  of  Kentucky, 
and  now  Geologist  of  Pennsylvania,  in  the  excellent  and  expensive 
survey  of  that  State  just  now  being  completed.  He  determined 
that  there  had  been  in  years  gone  by  a  great  drop  of  the  strata,  a 
downthrow  it  may  be  called,  whereby  the  interior  basin  of  coals 
had  been  preserved  from  the  erosions  which  had  swept  them  away 
in  other  sections,  and  the  Lower  Measures  had  been  cast  many  feet 
under  the  water  level.  Prof.  Lesley's  connection  with  the  geologi- 
cal survey  of  Kentucky  had  given  him  some  idea  of  this  peculiar 
region  before  he  examined  it  for  the  East  Tennessee  Coal  and  Iron 
Company,  but  such  knowledge  had  not  extended  to  the  Dayton 
region,  hence  probably  he  did  not  know  that  there  the  great  down- 
throw ceased  to  exert  its  influence. 

The  main  seam  of  this  Walden's  Ridge  upturned  strata  is  un- 
doubtedly the  same  as  the  Sewanee  and  Soddy,  but  from  the  pecu- 
liar compression  of  the  strata,  the  other  seams  do  not  show  at  Coal 
Creek  as  at  Etna,  Daisy,  Soddy  and  even  at  the  Emery  mines. 
There  can  now  be  but  little  doubt  on  the  part  of  any  one  that  these 
pitched  strata  go  down  under  the  horizontal  strata  of  the  Cumber- 
land Mountain  at  Winter's  Gap  and  Coal  Creek  ;  and  the  probability- 
is  that  they  rise  with  the  Scquatchie  Valley  lault.  The  difference 
of  elevation  between  the  valley  level  at  Rockwood  and  the  appear- 


(57) 

ance  of -the  same  seam  of  coal  on  the  west  side  of  Crab  Orchard,  (it 
has  unfortunately  not  been  searched  for  on  the  east  side)  is  not  more 
than  would  make  a  very  gradual  rise  in  a  coal  seam.  Fifty  feet  te- 
the  mile  is  a  very  small  rise,  hardly  perceptible,  yet  in  ten  miles  it 
is  a  rise  of  five  hundred  feet,  while  the  difference  of  elevation 
between  what  might  be  called  the  valley  level  of  the  coal  seam  at 
Rockwood,  and  what  it  should  be  at  Crab  Orchard  is  about  800 
feet.  Hence  in  the  distance  between  the  two  places  it  is  easy  for 
the  seam  to  rise  to  a  corresponding  elevation  at  Crab  Orchard 
The  strata  of  this  ridge  belong  to  the  umbral  or  sub-conglom- 
erate, and  to  what  I  have  designated  as  the  Middle  Measures,  the 
Lower  of  Pennsylvania.  On  the  eastern  slope  of  the  ridge,  some 
of  the  mountain  limestone  series  frequently  come  up  a  short  dis- 
tance, this  becomes  more  especially  the  situation  as  the  Virginia 
line  is  approached  ;  at  Cumberland  Gap,  for  instance,  the  limestone 
is  far  up  on  the  eastern  side  of  the  mountain,  and  even  the  Devon- 
ian black  shale  is  nearly  one-half  the  way  up.  At  the  eastern 
base  of  this  ridge  a  series  of  knobs  is  found  all  the  way  from 
Cumberland  Gap  to  Chattanooga,  in  which  the  strata  are  pitched 
at  the  same  sharp  angle;  these  knobs  are  of  the  Clinlon  (New 
York)  or  Surgent  (Pennsylvania)  formation,  and  carry  throughout 
the  length  named  one  or  more  seams  of  red  fossil  iron  ore.  Thu* 
bringing  one  of  the  most  valuable  ores  of  iron  in  close  conjunc- 
tion— a  few  hundred  yards — with  a  good  cooking  coal. 

Previous  to  1860,  it  was  the  custom  of  the  Kimbrough  Bros,  to 
mine  coal  from  the  seam  at  Rock  wood  for  the  use  of  blacksmiths 
for  miles  around,  and  the  same  coal  had  be3n  opened  at  various 
other  points,  among  them  a  property  north  of  the  Emery  River. 
This  property  had  formerly  been  worked  for  blacksmith  use  by 
DeArmond,  as  the  seam  at  Rockwood  by  Kfmbrough.  In  1866, 
W.  and  E.  Small,  of  Baltimore,  purchased  1,200  acres  of  land  on 
Walden's  Ridge  from  J«ihn  DeArmond,  and  commenced  mining 
coal.  They  failed  in  1869,  and  in  1870  the  property  was  purcha-ed 
by  the  Wilcox  Brothers,  who  mined  coal  there  a  few  years  and  also 
failed.  The  mine  was  worked  by  a  tunnel,  which,  going  in  horri- 
zontaliy,  struck  the  seam  210  feet  below  the  outcrop;  entries  were 
driven  to  the  right  and  left,  and  coal  mined  by  st oping  from 
below  up.  The  seam  is  very  regularly  five  feet  thick.  The  cut  on 


(58) 

page  16  was  made  by  Prof.  Bradley  to  illustrate  the  location  of  the 
strata  at  this  mine,  from  it  may  also  be  derived  a  very  good  idea  of 
the  whole  of  Walden's  Ridge  uplifted  strata.  Recent  examinations 
which  I  have  made  fully  satisfy  me  that  these  Walden's  Ridge 
seams  go  down  under,  form  a  basin  and  become  for  a  time  horizon- 
tal* and  then  rise  again  at  the  line  of  the  Sequatchie  fault.  This 
fact  is  well  illustrated  along  the  line  of  the  Tennessee  and 
Sequatchie  Valley  Railroad,  near  Spring  City.  By  following  this 
line  to  Swaggerty's  Cove,  a  very  fine  section  illustrating  the  peculiar 
location  of  the  strata  can  be  obtained.  As  the  road  climbs  Walden's 
Ridge  (he  inclined  strata  with  the  pitched  seams  of  coal  are  plainly 
seen,  then  on  the  mountain  the  road  descends  to  the  valley  of 
White's  Creek  on  barren  strata,  there  reaches  the  coals  again  and 
ascends  with  them  to  Jewett,  where  are  the  mines  of  the  Spring 
City  Coal  and  Coke  Company ;  from  Jewett  to  the  summit  of  the 
mountain  forming  the  eastern  rim  of  Swaggerty's  Cove,  the  rapid 
rise  of  the  strata  is  very  plain,  the  coal  seams,  where  worked,  hav- 
ing a  rise  to  the  north-northwest  of  six  feet  to  the  one  hundred. 
The  Serai  conglomerate  forms  the  top  of  the  mountain  immediately 
bounding  the  eastern  side  of  the  cove,  and  the  mountain  limestone 
comes  in  about  two  hundred  feet  below,  being  there  higher  than  it 
is  at  the  foot  of  Walden's  Ridge  on  the  east.  In  the  valley  of 
White's  Creek,  the  basin  formed  is  well  illustrated  by  a  coal  searn 
owned  by  Messrs.  J.  C.  Wasson  and  T.  J.  Neai,  which  is  so  nearly 
level  as  to  be  difficult  of  drainage.  It  is  an  excellent  coal,  how- 
ever, and  very  convenient  to  the  railroad.  My  opinion  is  that  it  is 
one  of  the  Lower  coals,  probably  the  equivalent  of  the  old  Etna 
seam,  at  this  point,  however,  appearing  to  be  very  regular. 

The  Emery  mines  are  not  now  worked,  and  have  not  been  for 
several  years.  It  is  a  valuable  property,  and  the  coal  made  a  strong 
good  coke,  nearly  free  from  sulphur.  In  the  neighborhood  is  a 
good  site  for  an  iron  furnace. 

At  Emery  Gap,  Messrs.  Byrd  and  Denning  have  opened  the 
main  or  Rockwood  seam,  and  have  mined  considerable  coal  for 
local  use  and  some  for  shipment.  I  may  here  remark  that  this 
seam  is  classecf  by  Prof.  Bradley  -as  No.  6,  while  at  Soddy  it  is 
called  No.  7,  and  at  Etna  its  equivalent  is  called  No.  6.  It  is 
probable  that  the  Soddy  section  is  not  correct.  In  Safford's 
Sewanee  section  it  is  classed  as  No.  5. 


(  59) 


are  located  at  Rockwood,  Term.  The  seam  of  coal  at  this  place 
was  first  opened  for  regular  operations  in  1867,  by  Gen.  J.  T. 
Wilder  and  Maj.  H.  S.  Chamberlain,  who  conceived  the  idea  of 
erecting  an  iron  furnace.  The  seam  was  originally  opened  in  a 
gulch  where  it  outcropped  in  the  end  of  the  ridge,  various  other 
openings  were  afterwards  made,  and  the  freaks  which  nature  has 
played  with  this  seam  of  coal  at  this  place  probably  have  no  equal 
anywhere.  At  one  point  the  seam  widens  rapidly  until  it  reaches  a 
thickness  of  one  hundred  and  twenty  feet,  then  at  other  places  it 
thins  down  for  several  hundred  feet  to  a  mere  thread.  A  peculiar- 
ity of  this  seam  of  coal  is  a  strip  of  putty-like  clay,  which  never 
ceases  to  exist  even  in  the  places  where  the  coal  is  perfectly 
squeezed  out.  This  seam  of  putty-like  clay  is  common  to  the  Sewanee 
8  earn  also,  as  I  have  lately  determined  by  an  examination  at  Tracy- 
City.  An  idea  of  the  manner  in  which  this  mine  was  first  worke  & 
may  be  formed  from  the  following  diagram  : 

(   SCALED  OOP    FEELT    JO    ONE   INCH 


The  original  point  of  opening  is  seen  to  the  left,  while  the  tun- 
nel from  which  the  chief  supply  is  now  drawn  is  on  the  extreme 
right.  The  usual  dip  of  the  ceal  is  from  30  to  35  degrees.  This 
diagram  was  made  by  Col.  Killebrew  in  1877,  and  while  it  serve 


(60) 

the  design  of  showing  how  the  coal  has  been  mined,  does  not  now 
truly  exhibit  the  present  interior  shape  of  the  mine.  The  arrows 
indicate  the  dip  of  the  coal. 

In  1876  this  company  determined  to  try  a  new  plan,  and  struck 
i>oldly  into  the  mountain  with  a  tunnel  from  near  the  valley  level. 
The  coal  was  reached  at  a  distance  of  500  feet,  about  200  feet  ver- 
tical height  below  the  outcrop,  and  300  on  the  line  of  the  dip. 
'From  this  tunnel  entries  have  been  driven  to  the  right  and  left  for 
Considerable  distance,  and  ventilating  slopes  connected  to  the 
Openings  above.  On  the  right  hand  entry  about  150  feet  from  the 
tunnel  a  slope  has  been  driven  down  for  365  feet,  at  which  point 
coal  seam  becomes  very  nearly  horizontal.  A  steam  engine  with 
drum  and  wire  rope  lowers  and  raises  the  cars.  The  slope  is  ven- 
tilated by  a  parallel  slope  or  entry.  This  work  demonstrates 
practically  that  the  seams  of  the  inclined  strata  of  Walden's  Ridge 
go  down  and  under  the  mountain,  thus  proving  the  existence  of  an 
enormous  amount  of  this  excellent  furnace  fuel.  The  location  of 
this  tunnel  is  demonstrated  by  the  following  diagram,  and  from  it» 
succe-s  is  proven  that  the  same  species  of  operation  may  be  con- 
ducted a  large  part  of  the  distance  from  Dayton  to  Cumber- 
laud  Gap.  It  is  proper  to  state  that  the  Company  very  prudently 
ran  a  slope  down  on  the  dip  of  the  seam  before  commencing  the 
tunnel;  The  tunnel  is  nearly  all  the  way  through  sandstone,  and 
cost  about  $7,000.  The  mouth  of  the  tunnel  is  two  hundred  feet 
above  the  level  of  the  Cincinnati  Southern,  hence  the  point  at 
which  the  coal  seam  becomes  horizontal  is  only  one  hundred  and 
fifty- seven  feet  lower  than  the  railroad  bed.  The  rocks  in  the 
valley,  where  the  railroad  runs,  are  pitched  at  fully  as  great  an 
angle  as  the  coal.  The  shale  shown  at  the  right  hand  end  of  the 
diagram  has  been  largely  cut  away  thus  shortening  the  actual  tun- 
nel length. 


MOUTH  OF  NO. |  ENTRY 


The  coal  from  the  Roane  Iron  Company's  mine  is  used  entirely 


(  61  ) 

in  their  furnaces,  except  a  little  for  domestic  use  of  their  employes^ 
Their  furnace  plant  consists  of  120  coke  ovens  and  two  stacks,, 
which  when  both  are  running,  turn  out  an  averrge  of  115  tons  o£ 
pig  iron  per  day.  From  a  wild  forest  in  1868,  this  place  has  now 
grown  to  a  thriving  town  with  a  population  of  about  3,000' 
inhabitants. 

During  the  year  1882  this  company  mined  and  made  into  coke 
1,500,000  bushels  of  coal.  The  average  number  of  hands  em- 
ployed in  the  mines  was  one  hundred  and  seventy-five,  whose 
usual  earnings  were  from  $2.00  to  $3.00  per  day,  and  to  whom- 
$92,972.78  were  paid  in  wages.  The  value  of  the  coal  used  is 
estimated  at  $103,500.  The  total  paid  for  mine  supplies  during 
the  year  was  $23,511.33.  During  1882  the  new  slope  was  sunk, 
hoi-4  engine  put  in,  new  air  shaft  made  and  8,000  feet  of  new  iron 
trnok  put  in  the  mine.  Two  cents  per  bushel  was  paid  for  mining, 
$2.25  for  driving  entries  in  coal,  in  shte  and  rock  $10.00  per  yard. 
Taere  are  three  main  entries,  one  1,200  yards  long,  another  1,700 
yards  and  another  1J  miles,  all  7x6  feet  in  size;  the  side  entries  are 
from  7  to  10  feet  wide  and  6  feet  high.  Work  was  carried  on 
every  day  of  the  year.  There  are  good  schools  with  separate  build- 
ings for  white  and  colored  children,  and  four  churches.  The  cost 
of  living  was  a  little  higher  than  in  1881.  Reuben  Street  is 
Superintendent  of  the  mines,  H.  S.  Chamberlain  is  President  and 
H.  Clay  Evans  General  Manager  of  the  company. 

At  the  gap  of  the  ridge  through  which  White's  Creek  passes, 
some  openings  have  been  made  but  no  mining  operations  for  ship- 
ment conducted.  The  coal  there  is  of  good  quality,  and  the  iron 
ore  close  at  hand  and  in  abundance,  there  is  a  good  location  for  an, 
iron  furnace. 

THE  SPRING  CITY   COAL  AND   COKE  COMPANY. 

The  mines  of  this  company  are  not-  properly  in  the  inclined 
strata  of  Walden's  Ridge  as  I  have  classed  them,  but  as  they  are 
reached  from  the  main  front  and  over  the  inclined  strata,  they  will 
be  here  connected  therewith.  On  a  previous  page  the  peculiar 
location  of  these  mines  has  been  alluded  to  and  the  excellent  sec- 
tion which  can  be  had  on  the  railroad  line  from  the  valley  to 
Jewett,  where  they  are  located.  The  mines  are  sixteen  mi'es  from 
Spring  City,  and  about  1,000  feet  elevation  above  that  place.  The 


(62) 

openings  have  been  made  in  the  ridges  on  each  side  of  a  ravine 
which  appears  to  be  also  the  line  of  a  nearly  east  and  west  fault. 
On  the  south  side  of  the  ravine  three  openings  have  been  made 
and  the  seam  ranges  in  thickness  from  one  to  three  and  sometimes 
four  feet.  It  dips  to  the  east  at  the  rate  of  six  feet  to  the  one 
hundred.  On  the  north  side  two  narrow  seams  were  found  separa- 
ted by  from  five  to  twelve  feet  of  slate.  An  entry  has  been  driven 
in  1,400  feet  and  the  seams  have  come  within  a  few  feet  of  each 
other,  and  give  every  appearance  of  uniting.  It  is  my  opinion 
that  this  seam  is  the  Rockwood  seam  both  from  the  peculiarity  of 
the  coal  as  well  as  the  fossil  plants  of  the  roof,  and  if  not  already 
united  when  these  lines  are  printed,  it  is  my  opinion  that  pushing 
the  entry  under  the  main  and  undisturbed  mountain  will  find 
them  united  in  a  seam  of  excellent  coal.  The  buildings,  tracks 
and  general  plant  of  these  mines  are  well  constructed,  but  it  would 
be  difficult  to  pick  out  a  poorer  location  for  opening  a  mine,  yet 
it  may  be  more  economical  to  retain  it  as  there  than  to  move. 
The  business  seems  to  be  well  managed  now. 

As  stated  this  seam  dips  at  the  rate  of  six  feet  in  one  hundred. 
I  do  not  think  this  continues  very  far  as  the  basin  where  the  rocks 
lie  perfectly  horrizontal,  is  not  over  two  miles  distant  to  the  east 
and  I  think  one  and  a  half  will  cover  it.  This  point  is  300  feet 
lower  than  the  mine  opening,  and  there  the  excellent  block  coal 
noted  previously  is  found  in  the  bottom  of  the  creek  about  fifty 
feet  lower,  having  above  it  what  is  apparently  the  conglomerate. 
In  the  west  the  strata  rise  still  more  rapidly,  and  I  have  no  doubt 
but  the  outcrop  of  the  seam  they  work  could  be  found  on  top  of 
the  narrow  plateau  which  there  bounds  Swaggerty's  Cove,  and  the 
Lower  Measures  in  their  place  under  the  conglomerate  which  forms 
the  wall-like  sides  of  the  cove.  As  previously  stated  this  is  a  very 
interesting  region  for  the  student  of  geology.  Regular  operations 
in  and  shipments  from  this  mine  were  commenced  in  the  summer  of 
1882,  hence  the  manager  could  not  make  a  full  report.  About 
8,000  tons  of  coal  were  mined  and  shipped  in  1882.  The  company 
has  expended  about  $50,000  for  improvements  and  labor.  The 
railroad  is  owned  distinctively  from  the  local  mines ;  usual  freight 
to  Spring  City  $4.00  per  car,  freight  from  Spring  City  to  Chatta- 
nooga 50c  per  ton.  Col.  Chas.  Clenton  is  General  Superintendent 
and  also  President  of  the  Railroad  Company,  and  Wm.  Sleep> 


(63) 

Mine   Manager.     Mine   post-office,    Jewett,   Cumberland   county; 
company  office  at  Spring  City,  Rhea  county. 

In  the  inclined  strata  of  Walden's  Ridge,  near  Grand  View, 
coal  has  been  mined  in  a  small  way  and  the  quality  is  said  to  be 
good.  The  outcrops  of  these  seams  are  plainly  visible  from  the 
windows  of  the  ruilroad  cars  while  ascending  the  mountain,  and 
there  is  no  doubt  that  the  Rock  wood  seam  could  be  easily  found* 
The  elevation  of  Spring  City  is  767  feet  above  the  sea,  Grand  View 
is  about  850  feet  higher,  and  the  outcrop  of  what  is  thought  to  be 
the  Rockwood  seam  has  an  elevation  of  about  750  feet  above 
Spring  City,  or  1,537  feet  above  the  sea,  and  its  dip  is  over  45  de- 
grees. From  Grand  View  there  is  a  steady  down  grade  to  the 
west,  probably  to  an  elevation  of  over  1,300  feet,  then  there  is  a 
rise  at  Jewett  to  1,767.  Hence  the  coal  strata  has  somewhat  the 
following  shape : 


Swaggerty's 

C07S. 


This  section  is  not  intended  to  be  on  any  scale,  but  simply  to 
give  an  idea  of  how  the  coal  appears  on  the  line  of  the  Sequatchie 
Valley  and  Tennessee  River  Railroad.  From  Grand  View  to  the 
rim  of  Swaggerty's  Cove  is  ten  miles,  while  from  top  of  rim 
to  level  of  Cove  is  only  about  300  feet.  The  Clinton  shales  ap- 
pear in  Swaggerty's  Cove,  and,  I  was  told,  also,  the  iron  ore,  but 
did  not  see  it.  The  Nashville  limestones  are  also  said  to  appear. 

It  is  a  remarkable  fact  that  the  coal  seams  in  the  lower  part  of 
the  Cahawba  field  have  a  similar  formation.  The  sharp  upturned 
outcrop  being  near  Montevallo,  and  the  long  sloping  arm  reaching 
out  towards  Shades  Creek. 


(  64) 

During  my  visit  to  this  region  limited  time  did  not  permit  me  to 
make  a  measured  section  of  the  line  indicated  in  the  diagram. 
There  can  be  no  doubt  that  such  would  be  of  great  value  in  a 
proper  study  of  the  geology  of  the  State. 

Near  Clear  Creek,  eight  miles  southeast  of  Spring  City,  Mr. 
Wm.  Stambaugh  has  opened  a  number  of  coal  seams  in  the  inclined 
strata  of  Walden's  Ridge  on  an  area  of  land  belonging  to  Mr. 
John  Srambaugh,  of  Youngstowri,  Ohio,  and  has  developed  the 
Rockwood  seam. 

DAYTON  COAL  AND  IRON  COMPANY. 

The  mines  of  the  Dayton  Coal  and  Iron  Company  are  in  the 
gorge  of  Richland  Creek,  at  the.  passage  of  which  the  Walden/a 
Ridge  inclined  strata  commence  to  break  down.  The  mines  opened 
however,  are  in  a  horrizontal  strata  very  high  above  the  level  of 
the  creek,  and  some  distance  west  of  the  line  of  the  inclined  strata. 
The  position  of  the  seams  they  have  opened  has  not  been  fully  de- 
termined, but  it  is  my  opinion  that  they  are  9  and  10  of  the  Soddy 
tection,  8  and  9  of  the  Daisy  section  and  the  Kelly  and  slate  seam 
of  Etna.  This  opinion,  however,  is  not  based  on  as  thorough  an 
investigation  as  I  would  desire.  So  far  the  seams  developed  have 
been  thin  and  variable.  They  have  shipped  but  little  coal,  making 
it  mostly  info  coke.  The  lands  were  originally  bought  with  a  view  to 
the  erection  of  a  blast  furnace,  and  this  action  is  not  yet  abandoned. 
The  property  is  owned  by  Sir  Titus  Salt,  of  England.  He  also 
owns  a  wide  gauge  railroad  to  the  Cincinnati  Southern,  which  has 
been  graded  on  to  the  Tennessee  River.  The  entire  plant  is 
well  and  substantially  constructed.  The  railroad  was  only  com- 
pleted so  that  coal  could  be  shipped  in  December,  1882. 

The  property  consists  of  38,000  acres  of  land,  Only  fifty  tons 
of  coal  were  shipped  before  the  end  of  1882.  The  average  num- 
ber of  hands  worked  during  that  year  was  sixty,  to  whom  $1.00  to 
$2.00  per  day  was  paid,  amounting  to  a  total  of  $45,000,  the  sum 
«f  $26,000  was  paid  out  for  all  supplies.  Miners  are  paid  3J  cents 
per  bushel,  $4.50  per  yard  for  main  entries  and  $4.50  for  cross 
entries.  The  main  entry  is  700  feet  long,  6x8  feet,  side  entry  300 
feet  long,  5x8  feet.  Three  schools  are  taught  in  the  neighborhood, 
and  there  are  two  churches.  Freight  to  Chattanooga  was  58  cent* 
per  ton.  John  H.  Ferguson,  Dayton,  is  General  Superintendent. 


(  65  ) 
HORIZONTAL  STRATA. 

A  few  miles  below  Dayton,  the  last  remnant  of  the  pitched  strata 
of  the  Walden's  Ridge  sinks  to  a  level  with  the  valley  formation. 
From  theuce  southward  there  is  no  distinction  in  the  mountain 
formation,  and  though  the  coal  seams  may  be  slightly  inclined  at 
their  outcrop,  this  soon  ceases,  and  a  horizontal  basin  is  reached, 
which,  though  not  yet  fully  demonstrated,'  probably*  rises  again  to 
the  northwest.  This  seems  to  be  proven  by  the  position  of  themoun- 
tain  limestone,  which  at  Soddy,  Daisy,  and  other  points  north  of 
where  the  Tennessee  River  cuts  through  the  ridge,  is  down  in  the 
valley  only  about  800  feet  above  sea  level,  and  at  Etna  is  also  but 
little  on  the  mountain  side,  is  on  the  northwest  escarpment  above 
Sequatchie  Valley  more  than  1,100  feet  in  elevation. 

This  point  has  also  been  partially  demonstrated  at  the  Soddj 
mines.  Their  main  entry  is  run  into  the  mountain  at  right  angle* 
to  the  general  trend  of  the  Walden's  R'dge,  that  is  a  line  about 
north  75  west.  -It  is  now  1,000  y.irds  long  ;  for  the  first  150  yards 
it  dips  into  the  mountain  at  the  rate  of  one  foot  in  thirty  feet, 
there  is  a  level  for  a  short  distance,  then  comes  a  rise,  the  incline 
of  which  is  somewhat  less  than  the  dip  named.  Of  course  a  full 
demonstration  of  this  theory  cannot  be  had  until  the  Soddy  Com- 
pany go  through  the  mountain,  but  there  is  sufficient  evidence  to 
base  an  assumption  of  its  correctness. 

As  previously  stated  in  this  book,  the  Raccoon  Mountain  being  a 
mere  continuation  of  the  mountain  called  Walden's  Ridge,  north- 
west of  Chattanooga,  only  separated  by  the  river,  therefore  it  would 
be  treated  as  the  same  and  its  coal  seams  considered  with  those  of 
"NValdeii's  Ridge.  Hence  I  insert  here  three  sections,  showing  the 
very  great  similarity  of  the  strata  at  three  different  points.  The 
Etna  section  is  from  Dr.  Safford,  the  Daisy  I  made,  and  that  at 
Soddy  is  from  Capt.  A.  Lloyd,  Superintendent.  He  appears  to 
have  one  more  seam  of  coal  than  at  the  other  places,  which  I  am 
satisfied  is  a  mistake,  coal  0  in  the  gray  shale  being  undoubtedly 
a  .-lip  and  should  not  be  counted,  and  I  have  changed  his  number- 
ing. No.  10  of  the  Etna  and  Daisy  section  was  called  No.  11  at 
S  >ddy,  but  has  never  been  worked.  It  is  on  top  of  the  mountain, 
and  near  the  brow  has  very  little  covering  on  it.  It  has  been 
opened  at  Daisy  and  two  entries  driven  into  it,  and  the  evidence 
5 


(  66  ) 

that  it  is  identical  with  No.  10,  or  the  Oak  Hill  seam  at  Etna,  is 
positive,  as  also  is  the  identity  between  the  Kelly  seam  of  Etna  and 
No.  8  at  Soddy*.  This  seam  has  not  been  sufficiently  opened  at 
Daisy  to  determine  its  quality  accurately,  but  its  position  is  correct. 
It  is  my  opinion  that  the  Soddy  main,  or  No.  6  seam,  is  No.  6  at 
Etna ;  at  Daisy  it  is  known  to  exist,  but  its  thickness  has  not  been 
determined.  At  Etna  it  has  been  slightly  opened,  and  has  increased 
from  one  foot  in  thickness  to  nearly  two  feet.  Same  experimental 
openings  have  been  made  by  C.  E.  James  &  Co.,  on  the  Walden's 
Ridge,  across  the  river  from  Chattanooga,  at  which  several  seams 
of  coal  have  been  developed,  but  no  one  could  give  me  an  idea  of 
the  section,  and  time  did  not  permit  to  visit  them.  I  see  no  reason 
why  coals  No.  10  of  Etna  and  Daisy  should  not  exist  there.  A 
coal  seam  has  also  been  opened  near  the  suck  by  the  McNab  Coal 
Company,  which  is  thought  to  be  No.  6,  or  the  Soddy  seam,  but  it 
is  probable  that  it  has  not  been  sufficiently  examined  or  developed 
to  establish  its  identity.  A  narrow-gauge  railroad,  called  the  Chat- 
tanooga Western,  is  nearly  finished  to  the  mines  of  C.  E.  James 
<&  Co. 

The  following  are  the  sections  spoken  of: 

SODDY. 
Total  elevation  1,980  feet. 

10.     Coal  top  of  mountain 4  feet. 

Sandstone, 83  " 

Shale 1J  « 

9.     Coal 2i  « 

Gray  shale 40  " 

5.  Coal 2     to       4          " 

Fire  clay 6  " 

Sandy  shale 40  " 

7.     Coal 1}  « 

Sandy  shale 40  " 

6.  Coal..... , 3     to  7          « 

Fireclay 2  " 

Shales  with  thin  coal.... 

Sindstone 100  " 

•&     Coal 2  " 

Fire  clay 2  " 


(67  ) 

Black  shale  .......................................  40  feet. 

4.  Coal  ..............  .    ................................       If  « 

3.  Gray  shale  and  thin  coal  ......................  35  " 

2.  Coal  ...............................................     2i  " 

Fireclay  .........................................     8  " 

Shaly  sandstone  ................................  40  <€ 

1.  Coal  ...............................................     If  « 

Sandstone  and  shales  ...........................   68  a 

Mountain  li  mest  one  ............................ 

DAISY. 

Sandstone  heavy   is  4,000  feet  back  from  the  cliff,  as  also  at 
Soddy,  is  called  the  second  bluff. 

11.     Coal  ...............................................     1     to  1J    feet. 

Shales  .............................................  20  " 

Sandstones  callpd  first  bluff,  about  1,000 

feet  from  cliff.  ................................   60  " 

10.     Coal  good  ......................................  v..     4     to  5         " 

Fire  clay  and  shales,  with    thin  coal  .....  40  " 

Sandstone,   heavy,   massive,  called    main 

bluff.  ............................................    50  " 

9.     Coal  ........................................  ........     2J  to  4         << 

Shales  and  black  slate  ..........................  30  " 

8.     Coal  ................................................     3  " 

Fireclay  ......................................     3  " 

S  mdstone  in  layers  ..............................     20  to  30       " 

7.     Coal,  thin,  and  shales  .........................  .  50  " 

6.     Coal,  estimated  ...................................     2     to  5}       " 

Shales  .............................  ..................  10     to  20         " 

Conglomerate  cliff  rock  .......................  90  " 

5.  Coal  (Etna)  .......................................     1     to  5 

Fire.clay  ..........................................     1     to  4 

Sandstones  and  sandy  shale  ..................     3 

4.  Coal,  thin  .........................................       J  « 

Shales  with  iron  balls  ..........................  80  " 

3.  Coal  ...............................................     1  « 

Shales  ..............................................  15  « 

2.  Coal  ................................................     2J  to  3         " 

1.     Coal,  thin,  and  shales  .........  ..................  100     to  125         " 

Mountain  limestone... 


" 
" 


(68) 

ETNA. 

Sandstone..... 73  feet. 

Shaly  sandstone 32  " 

10.  Coal 4 

Slate  with  a  thin  coal 46  " 

9.  Coal  with  slate  parting 6 

Shale.. , 44  " 

8.  Coal  (Kelly  seam) 2  to  5  «• 

Fire  clay 1J  " 

Sandstone  (upper  conglomerate) 82  " 

7.  Coal i 

Yellow  sandy  shale 45 

Thin  coal 

Gray  shale 47  " 

6.  Coal 1  to  2  " 

Gray  sandy  shale 45  " 

Conglomerate  cliff  rock 96  " 

5.  Coal  main  (Etna)  2  to  5  " 

Fire  clay 2  " 

Shale 20  " 

4.  Coal 1  « 

Gray  shale 95  " 

3.  Coal :. i 

Black  shale  with  iron 20  " 

2.  C»al 3  " 

Shale  with  iron  balls 40  " 

Gray  shale 34  " 

1.  Coal 2  " 

Fire  clay 2  " 

Shales  and  sandstone 100  " 

Mountain  limestone . 

THE  SODDY  COAL  COMPANY'S   MINES 

Are  located  on  the  Cincinnati  Southern  Railway,  twenty- one 
mil*s  from  Chattanooga,  at  Rathburn  Station.  The  land  now 
•worked  is  leased  from  Win.  and  M.  H.  Clift,  the  royalty  paid  being 
«ne  fourth  of  a  cent  per  bushel,  equivalent  to  6J  cents  per  ton. 
For  the  year  ending  December  31,  1882,  2,500,000  bushels  of  coal 
were  shipped  to  Chattanooga,  Atlanta  and  Macon,  Ga.,  Huntsville, 


(69) 

Ala.,  and  other  southern  places.  During  1882,  700,000  bushels  of 
coke  were  made  and  shipped.  The  average  ruimber  of  hands 
worked  was  300,  and  their  usual  earnings  from  $1  to  $3  per  day* 
The  average  selling  price  of  coal  for  the  year  was  6J  cents,  and  the 
value  of  coal  shipped  amounted  to  $165,000.  For  driving  entries, 
$2.35  to  $4.50  per  yard  is  paid,  and  mining  coal  is  paid  for  on  a 
eliding  scale  as  follows:  The  miners  are  paid  67}  cents  per  ton 
when  coal  is  sold  at  S1.87J  or  less,  and  they  receive  one- third  of 
any  amount  coal  is  sold  at  over  $1.87J  per  ton  ;  for  instance,  if  the 
average  of  monthly  sales  is  $2.00,  that  is  12J  cents  more,  the  miner 
receives  four  cents  per  ton  more,  or  81 J  cents.  The  main  entry 
is  1,000  yards  long,  5}  by  8  feet  in  size;  side  entries  are  5  by  7J. 
Rooms  are  worked  with  a  width  of  twenty  four  yards  and  a  road- 
way on  each  side;  pillars  are  left  twenty  yards  wide.  In  1882  300 
days  of  full  time  were  made.  Liquor  is  not  allowed  to  be  sold 
near  the  mines.  There  are  three  churches  and  good  schools.  Cost 
of  living  was  a  little  higher  than  in  1872. 

This  mine  was  opened  in  1867  by  an  association  of  Welchmen 
on  the  co-operative  plan.  It  proved  a  failure,  and  the  mine  went 
into  the  hands  of  a  Receiver.  The  present  company  took  charge 
in  1877,  and  the  business  has  steadily  increased,  the  capacity  having 
more  than  doubled  in  the  last  two  years.  Cost  of  shipping  to 
Chattanooga  is  2J-  cents  per  ton  per  mile  by  railroad,  and  less  than 
one  cent  by  water.  Capt.  A.  Lloyd  is  Superintendent  at  the  mines, 
M.  H.  jClift,  President,  and  Wm.  Williams,  Agent  in  Chattanooga. 

Three  seams  have  been  worked  at  this  place,  classed  in  the  sec- 
tion as  No.  6,  No.  8  and  No.  9.  The  chief  mining  operations  are 
in  the  first.  Near  the  outcrop  it  was  somewhat  friable,  but  farther 
in  it  became  solid,  and  is  now  a  coal  of  very  good  quality  and 
much  sought  for.  It  is  so  compact  that  lumps  of  great  size  can  be 
easily  taken  out. 

This  seam  is  worked  by  four  entries,  the  largest  of  which  is 
•over  1,000  yards  in  length.  The  seam  rises  to  the  southwest,  up 
4he  creek,  about  75  feet  in  a  little  less  than  three-fourths  of  a  mile. 
At  that  point  an  entry  has  been  driven  and  a  ventilating  shaft  put 
In,  hence  there  is  a  fine  current  of  air  up  and  a  constant  stream  of 
water  down.  It  would  be  hardly  possible  to  effect  a  more  perfect 
«ystera  of  drainage  and  ventilation  than  has  been  effected  through 
'the  opportunity  afforded  by  nature. 


(70) 

No.  8  is  a  seam  of  extraordinarily  good  coal,  ranging  from 
twenty  inches  to. four  feet  thick.  Alone  it  makes  a  v^ry  superior 
coke,  and  is  no  doubt  the  same  as  the  K^lly  coal  at  Etna.  It  is 
usually  mixed  with  the  seam  below  in  making  coke,  thereby  im- 
proving the  quality.  This  mine  is  worked  by  contract,  the  com- 
pany only  furnishing  props  and  trackway,  and  the  "  b«»ss  miner" 
delivering  the  coal  in  the  shute  at  three  cents  per  bushel. 

No.  9  is  but  little  worked  of  late,  as  its  quality  is  inferior. 

From  the  opening  of  these  mines  to  the  1st  of  January,  1883, 
about  600,000  tons  of  coal  have  been  taken  out,  and  the  annual 
Output  is  now  about  140,000  tons. 

The  mine  incline  is  175  yards  long,  about  25  feet  vertical  height, 
and  from  the  foot  of  the  incline  to  the  Cincinnati  Southern  is  one 
mile.  The  entries  have  a  total  length  of  9,000  yards.  In  summer 
the  men  are  chufly  employed  in  driving  entries,  so  as  to  prepare 
for  a  large  output  in  winter,  and  May,  1883,  they  drove  225  yards 
of  main  entry  and  435  yards  of  room  entries.  The  main  entries 
are  all  driven  with  a  parallel  side  entry  for  ventilation.  The  pillars 
are  left  twenty  yards  wide.  In  operating  the  No.  6  mine,  two 
faults  have  been  encountered  which  nearly  cut  out  the  coal ;  in  No. 
7  only  one  has  been  met  so  far,  but  that  seam  has  not  been  run  in 
near  as  far  as  No.  6. 

THE  WALDEN'S  RIDGE  COAL  COMPANY 

Is  the  title  of  a  corporation  with  the  same  stockholders  as  the 
Soddy  Company.  It  operates  a  mine  on  Ro>-ky  Creek,  nine  miles 
farther  up  the  railroad.  Operations  were  commenced  there  since 
January  1,  1883.  The  product  is  row  (June,  1883),  about  75  tons 
per  day,  all  of  which  is  made  into  coke.  About  forty  men  are 
employed  in  the  various  operations  of  mining,  coking  and  con- 
struction. 

THE   DAISY  COAL  COMPANY 

Is  the  title  of  a  corporation  owning  about  8  000  acres  of  land  ad- 
joining the  Soddy  property  on  the  southwest.  F<wr  miles  from 
Soddy,  and  in  a  total  distance  of  6,000  feet  of  the  railroad,  a  num- 
ber of  openings  have  befn  made.  Th^se  are  in  No*.  3,  5,  8,  9  and 
10  seams.  The  principal  work  has  been  done  in  No.  5,  which  is 
the  same  as  the  old  Etna,  and  has  all  its  characteristic  fickleness  as 
to  thickness,  but  is  a  very  superior  coal.  In  No.  10  an  entry  110 


(71  ) 

feet  long  has  been  driven,  revealing  a  seam  of  good  coal  4  feet  10 
inches  thick.  This  seam  is  on  top  of  the  mount  n'n,  in  a  sort  of 
bench,  which  is  very  persistent,  running  about  1,000  feet  irom  the 
front  bluff  of  the  mountain,  from  the  Soddy  mines  to  Chicamauga 
Creek.  I  am  not  informed  as  to  its  existence  beyond  Chicamauga. 

Operations  in  these  mines  have  been  of  the  most  desultory  char- 
acter for  some  time,  the  present  owners  not  being  able  or  willing 
to  make  the  further  investment  necessary  to  construct  the  railroad 
and  shutes. 

An  estimate  made  by  a  mining  "boss,"  as  the  cost  of  raining  and 
shipping  5,000  bushels  per  day,  is  as  follows,  and  may  fairly  apply  to 
Other  places  in  this  section: 

10  Mules $  5  00 

10  Driven 10  00 

2  Weighers  and  dumpers 4  QO 

4  Mules  to  incline 2  00 

4  Men   to   incline 4  00 

1   Incline  man 2  00 

1   Man  at  bottom 1    00 

Engineer  and  fireman  on  railroad 5  00 

Brcikeman..... 2  00 

Contingencies 5  00 

$  40  00 

Mining  5,000  bushels  @  2Jc 125  00 

Props.        "          "  Jo 4 25  00 


5,000  bushels  at  C.  S.  R  R $190  00 

This  estimate  was  made  for  the  No.  10  seam,  wherefrom  there 
would  have  to  be  a  tramway  to  the  incline  of  1,100  feet  in  length. 

This  is  a  very  valuable  property,  and  it  is  (o  be  regretted  that  it 
is  permitted  to  lie  idle.  The  distance  to  Chattanooga  is  seventeen 
mile-.  J.  C.  Giut,  Jr.,  Nashville,  is  President,  and  Capf.  Bueckell 
has  had  the  mines  in  charge,  and  has  been  getting  out  a  little  coal 
for  sale  to  the  neighborhood  and  to  Chattanooga. 

It  is  a  matter  worthy  of  note  that  seam  No.  7  is  1,221  feet  above 
sea  level  at  the  main  entry  at  Soddy,  while  at  Dai^  /  it  is  1  3  '4,  and 
the  seam  supposed  to  be  the  snme  at  Etna  is  1,542  feet  above  sea 
lev^l. 

In  the  Walden's  Ridge,  nearly  a  direct  north  course  from  Chat- 
tanooga^C.  E.  James  &  Co.  have  opened  several  seams  of  coal. 


(72) 

A  company  has  been  organized,  under  the  name  of  the  Chattanooga 
Western,  M  g.  G.  C.  Connor,  President,  to  construct  a  railroad  from 
the  city  to  these  mines,  and  nome  of  the  most  difficult  parts  of  tht 
route  have  been  graded.  They  probably  have  all  the  seams  whick 
•xist  at  Daisy  and  Etna. 

[Since  Ihe  above  was  put  in  type,  the  Daisy  property  has  been 
purchased  by  Messrs.  J.  G.  Aydelott,  French  and  others  in  com- 
pany with  Mr.  Thos.  Parkes;  these  gentlemen  state  that  they  will 
immediately  commence  operations  on  an  extensive  scale.] 

Lower  down  the  river  another  coal  operation  was  commenced 
and  prosecuted  with  some  vigor  for  a  time,  under  the  name  of  the 
McNabb  Coal  &  Coke  Company. 

THE   ETNA   MINES 

Are  located  near  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Railroad,  fourteen 
miles  from  Chattanooga.  They  are  located  in  the  continuation  of 
the  mountain  which,  northwest  of  Chattanooga  is  named  WaMen's 
Ridge,  here  locally  called  Raccoon  Mountain,  and,  as  previously 
stated,  a  little  further  southwest  is  called  Sand  Mountain.  Th« 
location  of  these  mines  is  probably  the  best  to  study  the  develop- 
ment and  characteristics  of  the  Lower  Coal  Measures.  A  section 
«f  the  strata  is  given  on  page  68. 

A  railroad  track,  7,200  feet  long,  extends  from  the  Nashville  & 
Chattanooga  Railroad  to  the  top  of  the  plateau.  This  line  skirts 
the  mountain  side,  cutting  away  the  earth  and  rock,  and  then 
through  several  long  deep  cuts  it  reaches  the  top.  These  cuti 
afford  excellent  opportunity  to  study  the  various  formations.  In 
the  railroad  cut  near  Whiteside  a  thin  seam  of  red  fossil  iron  or« 
•hows ;  further  east  several  seams  over  a  foot  thick  are  found. 
Above  this  formation  is  found  the  siliceous  group  and  the  moun- 
tain limestone.  The  mountain  limestone  shows  just  below  the  1  ne 
of  the  Etna  Mine  Railroad,  the  first  formation  seen  above  being 
the  shales  and  shaly  sandstones  of  the  Lower  Coal  Measures.  In 
these  is  found  a  thin  seam  of  coal,  above  this  is  a  wide  belt  of  shales 
containing  modules  of  carbonate  of  iron  ;  then  comes  a  seam  of 
coal  which  varies  from  two  to  six  feet  in  thickness.  It  has  been 
worked  to  a  limited  extent,  and  is  a  good  coking  coal,  but  contains 
considerable  slate.  It  is  thought  to  be  the  same  seam  as  that 
worked  at  the  Dude  mine  in  Georgia.  In  the  black  slate  abovt 


(73) 

this  coal  is  a  very  persistent  seam  of  iron  ore  about  twelve  inches 
thick,  which  can  be  easily  mined  with  the  coal,  especially  in  entries, 
and  from  which  could  thus  be  m  ide  available  a  considerable  quan^ 
tity  of  ore.  Between  this  seam  and  that  called  the  main  Etna  are 
two  thin  seams  of  coal  of  no  importance.  The  main  Etna  wa-*  the 
seam  chiefly  worked  for  many  years;  it  is  now  abandoned.  It  was 
an  excellent  coal,  but  the  seam  was  so  variable  in  thickness  as  to 
make  mining  very  costly. 

It  is  the  same  seam  as  that  found  immediately  under  the  cliff 
conglomerate,  all  around  the  Highland  rim,  from  the  tunnel,  through 
White,  Putnam  and  Watson  counties,  into  Kentucky.  At  the  Etna 
mines  there  are  several  seams  between  the  cliff  and  the  second  con- 
glomerate; one  of  these  is  undoubtedly  the  Sewanee.  In  a  former 
work  on  "Coal  andiron  in  Tennessee,"  the  writer  of  this,  who  alsa 
prepared  that  part  of  that  work,  expressed  the  opinion  that  the 
Kelly  seam  was  the  Sewanee;  later  and  more  careful  investigations 
prove  that  statement  to  be  incorrect.  Tue  Sewanee  seam  is  here 
thin,  as  far  as  examined  not  over  twenty-lour  inches,  at  the  outcrop 
only  thirteen  inches  thick.  Above  the  second  conglomerate  is  a 
plateau  over  which  is  a  railroad  one  thousand  feet  long  to  reach  a 
superimposed  ridge.  In  this  ridge  are  three  seams  of  coal.  The 
lowest  is  called  the  Kelly,  the  next  the  slate  and  the  top  Oik  H1U 
The  first  and  the  last  are  worked.  The  Kelly  coal  has  probably 
no  superior  anywhere  as  a  coal  for  blacksmiths'  use  or  for  making 
coke  for  the  use  of  founderies.  It  very  much  resembles  the  famous 
Biossburg  coal  of  Pennsylvania.  This  seam  dips  to  the  northwest, 
this  for  some  time  gave  great  trouble  as  to  water,  which  was 
allowed  to  run  to  a  swamp,  and  was  pumped  thence  by  an  engine 
located  near  the  mouth  of  the  mine.  Within  the  past  two  years, 
however,  entries  have  been  driven  through  the  ridge  at  two  points, 
which  not  only  give  excellent  ventilation,  but  by.  a  side  ditch 
afford  egress  for  the  water  and  save  the  cost  of  pumping.  The 
seam  ranges  in  thickness  from  eighteen  inches  to  four  feet;  the  cars 
used  in  the  mine  hold  sixteen  bushels;  they  are  carried  to  the  mine 
mouth  by  mules,  thence  they  are  hauled  up  an  incline  by  a  wire 
rope  worked  with  a  steam  engine,  then  they  are  dumped  into  cars 
holding  ninety  six  bushel-,  or  six  small  car  loads.  These  largjs 
oars  go  down  the  incline  to  the  coke  ovens  and  railroad. 

The  Oak  Hill  seam  was  opened  many  years  ago  and  for  some 


(74) 

time  abandoned,  but  has  again  been  operated  for  two  years  pist; 
the  coal  from  it  is  cubical  and  laminated,  and  makes  a  good,  strong 
coke,  but  contains  considerable  sulphur.  If  washed  it  would  un- 
doubtedly be  of  first  quality.  It  is  very  easily  mined,  though  the 
roof  is  peculiar  .and  soni'what  unreliable,  and  it  mav  certainly  be 
cou-ited  on  for  four  and  a  h;ilf  to  five  feet  of  coal.  Great  cire  in 
mining  might  get  out  a  lirge  part  of  the  sulphur,  as  it  is  gener  lly 
in  plates  near  the  top.  It  is  at  present  impossible  to  identify  this 
Beam  of  coal  with  any  ia  other  parts  of  the  Tennessee  coal  field, 
except  at  Daisy.  It  does  not  exist  at  Tracy  City,  nor  so  far  as 
known  anywhere  further  north,  though  I  am  inclined  to  think  an 
Outcrop  I  found  on  a  high  ridge  near  the  headwaters  of  R  >cky 
Hiver,  is  (his  seam.  At  any  rate  that  outcrop  is  there  high  enough 
Above  the  Sewanee  to  be  in  the  proper  place;  on  the  eastern  side 
it  has  not  been  observed  northeast  of  Soddy.  The  Siate  seam 
carries  a  coal  very  free  from  sulphur,  but  containing  a  large  amount 
t)f  slate  disseminated  through  it. 

There  was  shipped  from  the  Etna  mines  during  the  year  1882, 
22,730  tons  of  coal  and  7,60.9  tons  of  coke;  the  total  number  of 
employes  was  190,  of  whom  eighty-four  were  miners  a»>d  ten  coke 
burners;  the  total  amount  of  wages  paid  out  was  $63,510;  men 
"Working  five  days  to  the  week  earned  $600  per  year;  common  labor 
is  paid  $1.00  to  $1.25  per  day. 

The  postoffice  of  the  mine  is  Whiteside,  in  Marion  county  ; 
they  were  originally  opened  about  1852,  by  an  Eastern  company 
working  under  a  lease  from  Robfrt  Cravens,  and  the  Boyce 
and  Whiteside  estates.  Since  that  time  they  have  been  operated 
by  several  different  companies  and  individuals  with  varied 
success  and  reverses.  The  present  company  was  organized  in 
August,  1881,  under  the  name  and  style  of  the  Etna  Coal 
Company,  with  the  following  officers:  Dr.  Wm.  Morrow, 
President,  D.  B.  Pillsburry,  Gen-  ral  Manager,  and  J.  T.  H  il, 
Seen  t  try,  which  organization  still  exists.  The  mines  now  operated 
are  owned  by  the  conipiny,  the  estate  consisting  of  about  three 
thousand  acres,  extending  from  the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St. 
Louis  Railway  on  the  south  to  the  Tennessee  River  on  the  ii"rth. 
At  pre-ent  the  only  seams  worked  are  the  '*  Kelly"  and  "Oak 
Hill,"  the  former  being  the  principal  seam,  and  the  one  from  which 


(75) 

the  celebrated  blacksmith  coal  is  obtained.  "  This  coal  has  been  in 
general  use  by  blacksmiths  throughout  the  Southern  States  for 
more  than  twenty  five  years,  and  is  now  fully  established  as  the 
best  blacksmith  coal  in  the  South,  and  equal  it  not  superior  to  any 
coal  for  that  use  in  the  United  States."  This  mine  was  originally 
Opened  for  general  domestic  use  and  the  product  was  sold  largely  in 
Na-hville,  Chattanooga,  and  elsewhere,  but  its  superior  qua  ities 
for  blacksmith  use  and  for  the  manufacture  of  coke  soon  caused  the 
trade  to  drift  almost  exclusively  into  that  channel.  At  present 
almost  the  entire  output  is  sold  to  blacksmiths  throughout  the 
South. 

The  following  analysis  of  the  Etna  blacksmith  coal  was  made  by 
Prof.  Pohle,  of  New  York  City  : 

Fixed  carbon 74.20 

Volatile  matter 21.10 

A.-h 2.70 

Sulphur 70 

Water 1.30 

A  recent  analysis  made  by  Prof.  Andrew  S.  McGrath,  of  Penn- 
sylvania, to  determine  the  amount  of  phosphorus  in  this  coal  and 
coke,  shows  the  following  result: 

Coal 0.005  per  cent. 

Coke 0.008  per  cent. 

Being  0.006  per  cent,  less  than  is  found  in  the  famous  Connells- 
Tille  coal,  so  highly  esteemed  in  the  manufacture  of  Bessemer  pig 
iron  on  account  of  the  low  per  cent,  of  phosphorus. 

The  product  from  the  "Oak  EL11  "  mine  is  manufactured  inta 
blast  furnace  coke  of  good  quality,  which  finds  a  ready  sale. 


(76) 


MIDDLE  TENNESSEE. 


SEWANEE  DISTRICT. 


In  this  district  is  included  the  Tracy  City  mines  and  the 
'•mines  in  the  Sequatchie  Valley,  also  the  Crow  Creek  region. 
The  principal  seam  worked  is  the  Sewanee;  in  fact,  in  it  are 
the  only  extensive  mines.  There  are  several  openings  in  the  moun- 
tain above  Crow  Creek  Valley,  but  they  are  entirely  in  the  Sub- 
conglomerate  Measures.  The  peculiarities  and  excellencies  of  the 
Sewanee  seam  have  been  stated  in  another  part  of  this  volume.  It 
is  undoubtedly  the  most  extensively  distributed  seam  of  ary  in  tht 
Tennessee  coal  field.  In  the  Cumberland  Plateau  region  it  under- 
lies about  one- half  of  Grundy  County,  one  third  of  Sequatchie, 
full  three- fourths  of  Van  Buren,  one  half  of  Bledsoe,  over  one- 
half  of  Cumberland,  and  some  area  in  the  southern  part  of  Fentress 
and  western  part  of  Morgan — an  area  of  about  1,300  square  miles 
in  this  district  alone.  The  seam  is  undoubtedly  the  same  as  that 
designated  B,  by  Prof.  Lesley  in  the  Geology  of  Pennsylvania. 
It  occurs  in  Pennsylvania  just  as  it  does  in  this  State,  above  the 
main  (Serai)  Conglomerate,  at  a  slightly  variable  distance  from  it- 
In  that  State  there  is  usually,  but  not  invariably,  a  coal  seam  be- 
low. This  seam  is  found  at  the  Tracy  City  mines.  This  seam  B 
is  but  little  less  important  as  a  coking  coal  than  the  Pittsburg  seana 
in  the  Connellsville  region  ;  it  is  the  same  seam  from  which  iarge 
quantities  of  coke  are  made  in  Pennsylvania.  The  Pittsburg  seam, 
from  which  the  largest  amount  of  coke  is  made,  in  the  Connells- 
ville region,  has  a  composition  very  near  identical  with  Sewanee^ 


(77) 

but   farther  west   in  Westmoreland   and   Alleghany   counties,   tha 
volatile  matter  is  higher  and  the  carbon  less.     For  instance: 


Favette  County. 
Frick  &  Co., 
Broad  Ford. 

Westmoreland* 
P*n.  Co.'s 

"Water  

l  26 

1  490 

"Volatile  matter  

30  107 

37  153 

,  59.616 

58  193 

784 

658 

.  82-53 

2.506 

100.00  10000 


Color  of  ash R*'ddi»h  gray.  Rt-d. 

The  two  coals  given  above,  as  stated,  are  both  from  the  seam 
known  as  the  Pittsburg  seam,  and  are  from  mines  not  thirty  miles 
apart. 

Two  analyses  of  the  Sewanee  coal  from  Tracy  City  mines  are : 

Water 1.77  

Volatile  matter 25.41  29.9 

Fixed  carbon 62.00  63.5 

Ash 10.82  6.6 

Sulphur Tra^e. 

Fuel  ratio ..1:2.43 1:2.12 

The  coals  of  seam  B  in  Pennsylvania  have  less  volatile  matter 
than  the  Sewanee.  This  is  attributed  to  their  proximity  to  the 
anthracite  fields,  it  having  been  ascertained  that  the  volatile  matter 
increases  as  the  seams  go  westward  to  the  Ohio.  The  mines  of  the 
Cambria  Iron  Company,  in  Blair  County,  bear  closest  resemblance 
to  Sewanee  of  any  of  the  B  coals  of  Pennsylvania. 

Two  of  the  analyses  are : 


Water.  

..:.  950 

1.400 

"Volatile  matter  

,  28.915 

27.235 

Fixed  carbon  

63.462 

61.843 

A-h  

5.690 

6.930 

Sulphur  

983 

2.602 

Fuel  ratio  

1:2.27 

1:2.19 

Color  of  ash  

Grav. 

Gray. 

(78) 

These  and  other  Pennsylvania  analyses  are  copied  from  the  re- 
port of  Prof.  A.  S.  McCreath,  Chemist  of  the  Geological  Survey  of 
Pennsylvania. 

It  is  seen  from  these  analyses  and  from  the  area  covered  by  this 
seam,  as  stated  in  another  part  of  this  book,  that  in  this  coal  we 
have  a  vast  treasure  of  wealth  stored  up  for  future  use.  On  the 
southeastern  side  of  the  mountain  it  is  very  convenien|  to  Chatta- 
nooga ;  it  is  also  convenient  to  Sequatchie  Valley,  where  there  is 
now  partial  transportation,  and  in  Middle  Tennessee  it  may  be  reached 
at  various  points  by  branch  lines  from  the  McMinnville  branch  of 
the  Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railroad;  the  seam  ap- 
pearing in  the  hills  of  the  plateau  for  some  distance  parallel  with 
that  line,  within  a  distance  of  fifteen  to  twenty  miles.  Thus  is 
afforded  a  storehouse  of  fuel  for  the  conversion  of  the  vast  amount 
of  iron  ores  of  the  Western  Belt  into  metal,  and  giving  a  possi- 
bility for  the  erection  of  many  furnaces. 

The  chief  mining  operations  of  this  district  are  those  of  the 
Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company,  who  own  a  large  area 
of  land. 

THE   TRACY   CITY   MINES. 

are  the  largest  operations  of  this  company,  and  also  the  largest 
single  mining  operation  in  the  State.  Its  history  is  an  interesting 
commentary  on  the  progress  of  coal  mining  in  the  South,  it  being 
the  pioneer  enterprise  of  any  size  in  this  section  of  the  Southern 
States. 

The  seam  of  coal  at  this  place  was  discovered  by  some  boys  hunt- 
ing a  rabbit;  the  animal  ran  under  the  root  of  a  tree  which  had 
been  blown  down ;  in  digging  it  out  the  coal  was  found.  They  re- 
ported the  discovery  to  their  father,  Ben  Wooten,  and  he,  thinking 
it  might  be  of  some  value,  got  out  a  grant  for  500  acres,  covering 
the  opening.  The  Wooten  Brothers  afterwards  opened  the  seam, 
and  for  many  years  hauled  the  coal  down  the  mountain  to  the 
blacksmiths  in  the  valley,  and  some  was  sent  to  Nashville.  In 
1852  Messrs.  Boorman  Johnson,  John  Cryder,  S.  F.  Tracy  and 
other  gentlemen  of  the  city  of  New  York,  came  to  Tennessee 
looking  for  opportunities  for  investment.  They  were  shown  the 
Wooten  coal  bank,  and  immediately  opened  negotiations  for  the 
property  and  soon  after  purchased  the  land.  A  company  was  then 


(79) 

formed  under  the  name  of  the  Sewatiee  Mining  Company,  which 
had  a  cash  paid  in  capital  of  $400,000.  In  1854  the  construction 
of  a  railroad  from  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Railroad  to  the 
mines  was  commenced.  Even  at  this  day  the  building  of  a  rail- 
road up  that  mountain  would  be  thought  a  stupendous  undertaking^ 
The  grade  rises  736  feet  in  5.87  miles,  and  the  curvature  is  very 
great.  This  road  was  finished  in  1859,  but  left  the  company  in 
debt  in  the  sum  of  $400,000.  The  company  was  sued  both  by 
New  York  and  Tennessee  creditors.  The  Tennessee  creditors,  rep- 
re.-ented  by  Hon.  A.  S.  Colyar,  obtained  the  first  judgment,  bought 
in  the  property  and  reorganized  the  company,  under  the  name  of 
the  Tennessee  Coal  &  Railroad  Company.  This  company  com- 
menced operations  in  I860,  with  Hon.  A.  S.  Colyar  as  President* 
In  1862  the  mines  were  abandoned  by  the  company,  but  were  taken 
possession  of  by  the  United  S  ates  troops  and  worked  for  the  use 
of  the  army  for  some  time.  In  1865  Col.  Colyar  effected  a  com- 
promise with  the  New  York  creditors,  giving  them- bonds  and  some 
stock,  and,  with  Col.  P.  A.  Marbury  as  General  Manager,  recom- 
menced operations.  Later,  Mr.  J.  C.  Warner  became  General 
Manager,  but  afterwards  took  the  place  of  Secretary  and  Treasurer, 
and  Mr.  A.  M.  Shook  was  elected  General  Manager.  The  history 
of  the  early  days  of  this  enterprise  is  a  grand  record  of  energy  and 
perseverance,  and,  as  usual,  these  great  qualities  triumphed,  and 
the  largest  coal  operation  of  the  State  was  put  on  a  sound  footing. 

To  these  gentlemen  is  largely  due  the  present  extensive  coke 
industry  of  the  State.  In  1873  they  foresaw  that  to  make  a  great 
and  profitable  business  the  manufacture  of  coke  must  be  entered 
into,  and  that  that  coke  must  be  a  good  iron-making  fuel.  A  small 
furnace  was  erected  on  the  mountain  and  this  experiment  satisfac- 
torily tested.  This  was  in  1873,  but  previously  thereto  coke  had 
been  made  in  pits  on  the  ground.  The  first  coke  was  shipped  in 
1868.  In  that  year  5,377  bushels  were  shipped.  The  further 
growth  of  this  business  can  be  gathered  from  the  tables  below* 
The  great  impetus  was  given  to  it  by  the  erection  of  the  Chatta- 
nooga Iron  Company's  blast  furnace  in  1873.  As  will  be  seen  from 
the  table,  the  coke  shipments  jumped  from  62,175  bushels  in  1873 
to  619,403  in  1874.  In  1875  the  entire  property  was  sold  to 
Cherry,  O'Connor  &  Co.,  A.  M.  Shook  retaining  an  interest  and 
being  General  Manager.  In  1880  these  gentlemen  commenced  the 


(80) 

erection  of  the  furnace  at  Cowan,  which  was  finished  in  July,  188L 
And  in  the  early  part  of  1882  they  sold  the  whole  property  to 
John  H.  Inman,  Smith  and  others,  Tennessee  parties  retaining  a 
one  third  interest.  The  name  was  then  changed  to  the  Tennessee 
Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company. 

The  first  coal  shipped  from  this  mine  since  the  war  was  in  June,. 
1866.  During  that  month  680  tons  were  shipped,  and  for  the 
seven  months. of  that  year  the  shipments  were  9,240  tons;  from 
that  time  to  January,  1883,  the  shipments  have  been : 


Year. 

Coal  —  tons. 

Coke  —  tons. 

1*66  

9  240 

1867  

36  250 

1868  

40,850 

107 

1869  

36,880. 

413 

1870  

47,110 

673 

1871  

61.940 

668 

1872  

102,320 

455 

1873  

99,380 

1,243 

1874  ,  

93,370 

12,388 

ln75  

109,100 

16,160 

1876  

109,689 

21.080 

1877  

103,951 

21,060 

1878  

89,000 

22,780 

1879  

93,C37 

44800 

18*0  

114,170 

64  440 

3881  

158,679 

85,022 

1882  

144,689 

108,153 

The  coal  is  calculated  in  tons  of  2,000  pounds,  80  pounds  to  the 
bushel;  the  coke  in  tons  of  2,000  pounds,  40  pounds  to  the  bushel 
and  50  bushels  to  the  ton. 

The  company  own  in  this  their  original  property  about  25,000 
acres  of  land,  of  which  it  is  estimated  that  10,000  are  underlaid 
with  the  Sciwanee  seam  of  coal;  with  lands  since  purchased  adjoin- 
ing this  tract,  it  is  probable  that  they  have  in  all  full  25,000  acres 
underlaid  with  this  seam.  The  seam  ranges  from  two  to  seven  feet 
in  thickness,  is  a  *'  bright,  glistening  coal,  having  a  columnar 
structure,  and  breaking  in  oblique  lines,  with  partings  of  mineral 
charcoal,  always  tender,  but  frequently  looking  as  if  it  had  been 
subjected  to  severe  strains."  I  have  copied  Prof.  McCreath's  de- 
scription of  coal  B  in  Pennsylvania  at  various  places,  and  every 


(81) 

one  acquainted  with  the  Sewanee  coal  will  immediately  recognize 
the  description.  The  variable  thickness  is  also  a  feature  of  the 
seam  in  Pennsylvania. 

These  mines  are  located  on  the  top  of  Cumberland  Mountain, 
locally  called  Sewanee  Mountain,  and  are  connected  to  the  Nash- 
ville &  Chattanooga  Railroad  at  Cowan  by  a  railroad  twenty-three 
miles  long.  The  level  of  the  plateau  on  which  the  houses  of  the 
company  are  built  is  1,850  feet  above  the  sea,  thuS  giving  pure 
and  healthy  air  for  .the  abode  of  the  numerous  operatives  nec- 
essary around  such  an  enterprise. 

As  previously  stated,  the  company  operating  these  mines  is  the 
Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company,  of  which  J;  C.  Warner, 
Nashville,  is  President;  N.  Baxter,  Vice-President;  A.  M. 
Shook,  Tracy  City,  General  Manager,  and  E.  O.  Nathurst,  Tracy 
City,  Superintendent  of  the  mines  at  that  place. 

For  the  year  ending  December  31, 1882,  the  shipments  amounted 
to  144,689  tons  of  coal,  and  109,153  tons  of  coke.  They  have  at 
this  place  404  ovens.  The  average  number  of  hands  worked  in 
1882  was  600  convicts  and  330  free  labor.  The  average  day's 
wages  was:  For  convicts,  $1.10;  for  free  labor,  $1.75.  The  value 
at  the  mines  of  the  coal  shipped  was  $205,000,  and  of  the  coke 
$180,000.  The  total  amount  of  wages  paid  out  in  1882  amounted 
to  $180,000.  New  entries  have  been  driven,  old  ones  lengthened 
and  much  new  iron  rail  laid  down.  The  cost  of  mining  has  in- 
creased on  account  of  the  increase  in  length  of  entries.  Free  labor 
is  paid  2  cents  per  pushel.  Driving  entries  is  paid  for  as  follows: 
75  cents  per  lineal  yard  for  each  foot  of  slate,  and  $1.00  additional 
for  each  yard  of  coal.  Three  hundred  more  hands  are  employed 
now  than  in  1880. 

Fourteen  entries  from  daylight  into  the  ridge  have  been  made; 
have  in  all  about  twenty  miles  of  entries;  size  8  feet  wide,  5J 
feet  high.  Full  time  is  made  all  the  year  around,  and  sometimes 
work  on  Sundays.  Public  schools  are  taught  at  several  points 
around  the  mines.  The  churches  are  Methodist,  Episcopal  and 
Roman  Catholic.  The  cost  of  board  is  about  $15  per  month. 
Provisions  are  as  cheap  as  in  any  part  of  Tennessee. 

The  main  entry  of  the  mine  has  been  driven  in  on  the  seam  one 
and  a  half  miles;  No.  2  has  been  driven  in  one  and  a  quarter 
miles  ;  No.  3  is  in  fifteen  hundred  yards,  and  No.  4  is  twenty- two 
6 


(82) 

hundred  feet  long.  These  all  belong  to  what  is  known  as  the  old 
mine,  where  the  seam  was  first  opened.  Two  miles  distant  towards 
the  eastern  side  of  the  plateau  two  other  main  openings  have  been 
made,  known  as  the  East  Fork  and  Rattlesnake  mines.  The  first 
<>f  these  is  in  about  half  a  mile,  the  last  about  one  mile.  The  en- 
tire length  of  entries  in  this  mine  from  which  it  is  available  to  draw 
coal  exceeds  fourteen  miles.  The  largest  average  haul  is  one  and 
three  quarter*  miles. 

The  daily  product  for  December  averaged  1,200  tons  of  coal  and 
coke,  counting  twenty- six  working  days.  The  convicts  are  tasked 
from  five  to  seven  boxes  per  day,  a  box  holding  sixteen  bushels; 
hence  the  task  ranges  from  eighty  to  one  hundred  and  twelve 
bushels,  depending  on  the  thickness  of  the  coal  in  which  they  are 
working.  In  three  or  four  feet  coal  they  easily  dig  their  task  in 
eight  hours.  Free  labor  is  paid  twenty-five  cents  per  box  when  the 
coal  is  three  feet  and  over,  and  thirty  cents  when  under  three  feet 
down  to  two  feet.  The  men  furnish  their  own  oil  and  powder. 
No  coal  is  mined  under  two  feet.  The  seam  sometimes  swells  to 
eight  or  ten  feet  in  thickness,  but  seldom  falls  under  two  leet ; 
the  average  of  a  large  area  is  four  feet.  Miners  easily  make  $1.75 
to  $2.00  per  day.  The  Company  keeps  a  store,  but  the  men  are 
paid  in  money.  Some  of  them  have  accumulated  property  and 
bought  little  farms.  Common  laborers  get  $1.00  per  day. 

The  convicts  have  good  comfortable  quarters  and  are  well 
cared  for.  They  are  paid  for  all  extra  work.  In  1882,  over 
$500  per  month  were  paid  for  extra  work,  to  the  convicts. 
Some  of  them  accumulate  money,  comparatively  a  considerable 
amount.  It  is  the  interest  of  the  company  that  the  convicts  should 
always  be  in  good  health  and  able  to  work,  hence  their  physical 
condition  is  carefully  guarded  by  keepers  and  wardens.  They  are 
permitted  to  sing  as  much  as  they  please  and  have  religious  service 
every  Sunday. 

During  the  past  winter  this  company  has  shipped  large  quantities 
of  coal,  but  it  intended  to  bring  the  business  chiefly  into  the  manu- 
facture of  coke.  As  previously  stated,  there  are  four  hundred  and 
four  coke  ovens,  two  hundred  and  four  of  these  are  at  the  East 
Fork  mine,  sixty-six  at  the  Rattlesnake  and  one  hundred  and 
thirty-four  at  the  old  mine,  and  one  hundred  and  thirty-four  more 
are  to  be  erected  at  the  East  Fork  mine.  The  coke  ovens  var/  in 


(83) 

size,  the  old  ones  being  ten  feet  in  diameter  and  four  and  a  half 
feet  high  inside,  while  the  last  built  are  eleven  feet  in  diameter  and 
eight  feet  high.  The  latter  make  the  most  compact  and  the  heaviest 
coke.  The  first  are  usually  charged  with  one  hundred  bushels  of 
coal,  the  latter  with  one  hundred  and  twenty-five  bushels.  The 
sixty- six  ovens  at  the  Rattlesnake  mine  are  egg-shaped,  nine  and  a 
half  by  fourteen  feet,  and  and  five  and  a  half  feet  high  inside. 
These  are  charged  with  eighty  bushels  of  coal.  In  all  the  ovens 
the  coal  is  allowed  to  burn  forty- eight  hours  except  that  which  re- 
mains over  Sundays,  this  stays  in  seventy- two  hours  and  makes  a 
foundry  coke.  The  average  make  is  one  hundred  and  five  bushels 
of  coke  from  one  hundred  of  coal. 

The  opening,  plant  and  equipment  of  the  East  Fork  mine  are 
among  the  best  arranged  of  any  in  the  State,  and  its  history  is  a 
remarkable  record  of  good  management  and  rapid  work.  The 
entry  was  commenced  January  2,  1880,  and  the  ground  was  graded 
for  two  hundred  and  four  ovens,  the  outside  walls  of  the  whole 
number  built,  one  hundred  of  them  fully  finished  and  were  burning 
coke  by  June  30th  of  the  same  year.  At  this  place  the  coal  as  it 
comes  from  the  mine  is  fed  by  elevators  to  the  crushers,  from  thence 
it  passes  into  large  bins,  of  which  there  are  three,  each  having  a 
capacity  of  4,000  bushels,  and  the  fine  coal  dumped  into  buggies 
and  charged  into  the  ovens. 

The  ovens  are  of  sandstone  except  the  bottom,  and  cost  $300 
each ;  the  bottoms  are  of  red  brick  laid  on  their  side.  The  coal  is 
charged  to  a  height  of  eighteen  inches.  The  ovens  are  eleven  feet 
in  diameter,  six  to  eight  feet  high,  top  opening  thirteen  inches  ia 
diameter,  doors  two  and  a  half  feet  square.  The  pay  for  draw- 
ing ovens  and  loading  on  cars  is  forty  cents  per  oveu.  Two 
men  and  two  mules  charge  the  ovens.  The  crushers  have  a  capac- 
ity to  crush  and  discharge  into  the  bins  every  ten  hours  sufficient 
coal  to  supply  three  hundred  ovens.  The  entire  plant,  engine, 
boilers,  elevators  and  crushers  is  managed  by  two  men,  and  cost 
only  $7,500.  The  opening  of  this  mine  with  one  mile  of  main 
entry  and  T  rail  track  all  complete,  cost  $5,641.94.  It  is  doubtful 
if  a  mine  so  well  opened  was  ever  developed  at  so  small  a  cost. 

At  the  old  openings,  a  Stutz  washer  was  erected.  It  was  thought 
to  have  a  capacity  to  wash  six  hundred  to  one  thousand  bushels  per 
hour,  and  take  out  eight  per  cent  of  slate.  The  plant  cost 


(84) 

$7,8 63.46,  and  there  is  great  doubt  if  it  possesses  any  advantage  in 
treating  this  coal,  as  it  is  nearly  free  from  sulphur.  It  is  not 
now  used. 

The  plant  of  this  company  for  operative  work  consists  of  two 
crushing  machines,  four  hundred  and  four  coke  ovens,  eight  hun- 
dred mine  cars,  eighteen  coke-oven  charging  farries,  35,200  yards 
of  small  T  rail  track  in  the  mines  and  many  more  of  wooden  tram- 
way in  side  entries,  also  eight  locomotives,  and  twenty-five  miles  of 
wide  gauge  track  and  two  hundred  cars.  In  addition  are  numer- 
ous houses,  well  fitted  up  machine  and  work-shop.  The  executive 
force  consists  usually  of  about  nine  hundred  hands,  and  the  com- 
pany owns  eighty-two  mules.  The  general  management  of  this 
company's  business  is  under  charge  of  Col.  A.  M.  Shook,  whose 
long  experience  in  addition  to  natural  ability  gives  him  eminent 
fitness  for  the  position,  and  the  growth  of  the  business  to  its  present 
large  proportions  is  ample  evidence  of  the  excellence  of  his  man- 
agement. Mr.  E.  O.  Nathurst,  the  Superintendent  of  all  the  Tracy 
City  operations,  has  been  with  the  company  for  many  years  in  the 
capacity  of  clerk,  bookkeeper,  cashier  and  now  Superintendent, 
and  no  one  can  visit  the  premises  without  admiring  the  quiet, 
promptness  and  excellence  with  which  every  department  is  con- 
trolled. 

SEQUATCHIE  VALLEY. 

The  Sequatchie  Valley  region  should  not  properly  be  a  dis- 
tinctive coal  district,  as  all  the  coals  so  far  mined  in  the 
mountains  on  its  western  side  belong  to  the  Sewanee  series. 
In  the  geographical  division  of  the  State,  this  valley  is  placed 
in  East  Tennessee,  but  its  mines,  from  their  railroad  connec- 
tion, must  be  classed  "as  belonging  to  Middle  Tennessee. 
While  the  possibilities  of  coal  mines  in  the  western  rim  of 
this  valley  is  great,  the  present  development  is  very  little,  yet 
there  is  but  little  question  that  from  this  valley  is  presented  the 
most  favorable  point  for  attack  on  the  great  body  of  the  Sewanee 
seam,  which  exists  in  the  counties  of  Bledsoe,  Van  Buren  and  Cum- 
berland, from  the  fact  that  the  upper  ridges  which  contain  that  coal 
come  nearer  to  the  edge  of  the  escarpment,  in  some  instances  being 
a  mere  receding  bluff  above  the  cliff.  This  seam  of  coal  has  been 
opened  at  many  points  from  Victoria  to  the  head  of  the  valley 


(85) 

above  Pikeville.  These  openings  are  locally  known  as  Deaken's, 
Stone's,  Flagg's,  Robertson's  and  other  openings  for  testing,  and 
home  blacksmith's  use  have  been  made  by  W.  H.  Hart,  Isaac  Hop- 
kins, E.  S.  Blackburn,  J.  Clark,  and  Hon.  T.  D.  Northup.  The 
seam  of  coal  is  stated  to  range  from  four  to  six  feet  in  thickness. 

In  the  mountain,  on  each  side  of  the  Little  Sequatchie  gorge, 
many  openings  have  been  made  in  the  coal  seams  there  existing, 
chiefly  for  local  use.  Most,  if  not  all  of  them  are  below  the  Cliff, 
and  hence  of  the  Lower  Measures.  Among  these  is  one  opened  by 
Hon.  R.  A.  J.  Ralston,  said  to  be  six  feet  thick,  and  the  coal  of 
excellent  quality,  the  others  are  locally  known  as  the  Parmelly's 
bank,  Prior's,  Caldwell's  Green's  and  Harris'  banks.  They  are 
from  six  to  twelve  miles  from  the  railroad,  and  though  not  now 
accessible,  form  an  important  part  in  the  great  storehouse  of  fuel 
to  be  drawn  upon  in  the  future,  as  though  thus  distant,  the  route  to 
them  is  very  favorable. 

From  Victoria  to  the  northeast  of  the  valley,  the  face  of  the 
mountain  is  comparatively  regular,  being  broken  only  at  Dunlap 
by  the  course  of  Brush  Creek  and  thence  to  the  head  of  the  valley 
are  only  small  streams,  hence  the  disturbances  of  the  strata  occur- 
ring around  the  gorge  of  Battle  Creek  and  Little  Sequatchie  are 
not  likely  to  be  met  with  in  opening  mines  in  that  region.  From 
Victoria  to  the  head  of  the  valley  is  about  fifty-five  miles,  hence  it 
is  safe  to  assume  that  there  is  a  regularity  of  strata  for  fifty  miles. 
West  of  Dunlap  the  mountain  is  regular  and  unbroken,  and  con- 
tains the  Middle  or  Sewanee  coals  for  about  twelve  miles  west,  to 
beyond,  and  north  of  Tracy  City.  From  the  rim  near  Pikeville 
stretches  out  a  vast  area  carrying  the  Sewanee  seam  far  into  Van 
Buren  and  north  into  Cumberland.  The  area  of  the  Sewanee  coal- 
field, more  easily  accessible  to  this  valley  than  to  any  other  point 
where  transportation  is  available,  cannot  be  less  than  four  or  five 
hundred  square  miles,  which  even  at  the  former  figure,  and  the 
usual  estimate  of  5,000  tons  to  the  acre  of  merchantable  coal  from  a 
four- foot  seam  would  yield  over  one  billion  tons.  The  cheapness 
with  which  a  railroad  may  be  built  up  this  valley,  and  the  ease 
with  which  this  vast  amount  of  mineral  fuel  may  be  brought  down 
to  it  certainly  offers  very  attractive  inducements  to  capitalists.  In 
the  valley  is  also  a  vast  amount  of  the  red  fossil  ore. 


(86) 

VICTORIA   MINES. 

These  mines  were  originally  opened  by  the  Southern  States  Coal 
&  Iron  Company,  an  English  corporation,  but  with  all  the  other 
property  of  that  company,  were  transferred  in  1882  to  the  Tennes- 
see Coal,  Iron  &  Railroad  Company.  After  a  careful  examination 
of  all  the  vicinity  of  the  mines,  that  company  determined  to  aban- 
don them,  hence  during  1882  but  little  has  been  done  beyond 
drawing  pillars. 

In  1882  about  500,000  bushels  (20,000  tons)  of  coal  were  mined, 
of  this  about  100,000  bushels  (4,000  tons)  were  sold  to  the  Fire 
Brick  Works,  and  the  rest  was  made  into  coke  for  the  furnaces  at 
South  Pittsburg.  There  were  120  hands  employed  during  the 
year,  miners  earning  from  $1.50  to  $2.00  per  day  and  laborers 
fl.OO.  The  total  amount  of  wages  paid  out  was  $31,000.  The 
average  price  paid  for  mining  was  2J  cents  per  bushel ;  cost  of 
living  was  somewhat  higher  than  in  1880.  John  Frater  is  Super- 
intendent, Post  Office,  Victoria. 

These  mines  were  opened  in  excellent  style  and  at  great  expense, 
but  have  never  been  a  success.  They  are  not  really  in  the  main 
mountain,  but  in  an  arm  between  Little  Sequatchie  gorge  and  the 
Sequatchie  Valley.  The  whole  equipment,  tracks,  washing  ma- 
chinery, houses,  etc.,  is  of  the  most  substantial  character,  and  there 
is  no  better  mice  manager  than  Capt.  Frater,  but  the  most  costly 
and  perfect  plant  cannot  overcome  difficulties  which  nature  has 
thrown  in  the  way  of  cheap  development,  nor  supply  deficiencies 
which  exist  in  her  formations. 

A  seam  of  excellent  coal,  supposed  to  be  the  same,  has  been 
prospected  about  three  miles  farther  up  the  valley,  and  is  said  to 
be  of  excellent  quality,  of  good  size,  and  appears  to  be  as  regular 
as  is  usual  with  the  Sewanee  seam.  The  seam  as  worked  at  Vic- 
toria contains  an  unusual  amount  of  sulphur  in  nodules  from  the 
size  of  a  pea  to  the  size  of  a  goose  egg ;  these  were  extracted  by 
washing.  The  thickness  was  also  very  variable,  ranging  from  a 
mere  thread  to  six  or  more  feet;  at  one  time  more  than  400  feet  of 
hard  sandstone  was  cut  through.  The  seam  dipped  rapidly  into 
the  mountain,  and  there  was  a  large  amount  of  water  to  be  pumped. 
The  location  of  the  mine  was  in  every  respect  an  unfortunate  one, 
being  just  at  the  syncline  of  the  mountain,  and  it  is  to  be  regretted 
that  so  costly  and  excellent  an  improvement  has  been  abandoned. 


(87) 
LOWER  COAL  MEASURES. 

In  discussing  the  Walden's  Ridge  formations,  allusion  to  the  coal 
seams  below  the  Serai  conglomerate  has  been  made.  These  seams, 
while  having  been  worked  at  Daisy  and  Etna,  yet  have  a  minor  im- 
portance in  that  region,  but  on  the  western  brow  of  the  coal-field 
they  attain  considerable  thickness  and  have  every  appearance  of 
being  uniform,  whether  or  not  this  be  due  to  the  fact  that  they 
have  not  above  them  in  this  region  the  great  body  of  strata  which 
covers  them  in  the  eastern  part  of  the  field,  is  a  question  for  dis- 
cussion ;  one  fact  exists,  that  the  seams  opened  at  Etna  and  Daisy 
and  found  at  Soddy,  under  the  main  conglomerate,  are  there  unre- 
liable, while  on  the  western  face  at  Dade,  Ga.,  one  of  these  seams 
has  been  worked  for  more  than  ten  years,  and  on  the  face  of  the 
mountain  in  Warren,  White,  Putnam,  Overton  and  Fentress,  they 
have  been  opened  for  neighborhood  use,  for  that  purpose  worked 
for  many  years,  and  have  proven  to  be  reliable  in  thickness  and  of 
better  quality  than  usual  in  the  eastern  field.  These  seams  of  coal 
have  also  been  worked  for  many  years  on  the  Cumberland  River, 
in  Kentucky,  and  the  coal  was  formerly  boated  down  to  Nashville, 
it  there  selling  readily  for  two  cents  more  per  bushel  than  the  West 
Kentucky  coals.  This  coal  is  now  mined  on  the  Knoxville  branch 
of  the  Louisville  &  Nashville  Road,  and  is  being  brought  to  Nash- 
ville by  Phillips,  Randle  &  Co.  Mr.  Phillips  states  that  the  long 
railroad  haul  is  against  it,  hence  causing  a  higher  price,  but  the 
superior  quality  makes  it  sought  for.  In  that  region  these  seams 
appear  as  they  do  in  Tennessee  on  the  western  escarpment  of  the 
Cumberland  Mountains,  with  but  little  more  strata  than  the  Serai 
conglomerate  above  them,  and  to  the  east  gradually  sinking  to  a 
lower  level,  so  that  the  upper  coals  come  in  above;  in  the  Jellico 
region  to  an  extent  of  eight  or  more  seams. 

This  peculiarity  of  unreliability  on  the  southeastern  face  of  the 
mountain  is  characteristic  of  these  coals,  also  on  the  western  side 
of  Sequatchie  Valley ;  the  Battle  Creek  coal,  mined  there  for  many 
years,  and  highly  esteemed  for  its  good  quality  as  a  steam  and  grate 
fuel,  cannot  now  be  produced  at  a  profit  on  account  of  the  thin- 
ness of  the  seam.  On  the  southeastern  side  of  the  valley,  while 
coal  has  been  opened  there,  yet,  it  is  to  be  regretted,  no  depth  of 
mining  has  been  done,  the  reason  assigned  being  that  the  pitch  into 


(  88) 

the  mountain  was  too  great ;  neither  has  there  been  any  opening  in 
these  lower  seams  at  any  point  on  the  west  side  of  the  valley  above 
Battle  Creek. 

The  valley  of  Crow  Creek  runs  at  very  near  a  right  angle  to  the 
Sequatchie  Valley,  and,  cutting  the  Cumberland  Mountain  nearly 
through,  affords  a  means  whereby  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga 
Railroad  crosses  to  the  Middle  Tennessee  basin.  In  this  valley, 
and  far  up  on  the  mountain  side,  the  strata  is  solely  of  the  sub- 
carboniferous  limestone,  but  on  the  eastern  side  above,  in  a  narrow 
strip  of  the  umbral  shales  and  sandstones,  are  several  seams  of 
coal.  Two  of  these  have  been  opened,  and  the  coal  shipped  in 
email  quantities  to  Nashville  and  other  points.  The  quality  is  very 
good,  the  upper  seam  resembling  the  Old  Etna,  and  like  it,  variable 
in  thickness.  A  section  made  up  the  mountain  by  Dr.  Safford, 
near  Anderson  Depot  is  as  follows : 

Sandstone,  heavy,  (the  cliff) . . , 120  feet. 

1.  Coal,  from  2  to  5   feet,   lustrous  and  laminated, 

with  thin  leaves  of  mineral  charcoal,  average 3  " 

Fire  clay 3  " 

Shale 8  « 

Sandstone , 10  " 

2.  Coal  and  shale 10  « 

Sandstone  and  sandy  shale 10  " 

Shale 1  to  6     " 

3.  Coal,  no  pyrite 2J  to  3     " 

Shale  with  iron  stones  followed  by  debris,  and 

the  next  rocks  seen  are  the  mountain  limestone 
series. 

By  comparison  with  the  Etna  section,  before  given,  it  will  be 
seen  that  at  that  place  there  are  five  seams  of  coal,  here  only  three- 
It  corresponds  with  the  Bon  Air  section  on  page  5,  and  1  to  11  o 
the  Sewanee  section  on  page  11.  A  fine  showing  of  this  coal  has 
been  opened  on  a  spur  of  the  mountain  called  Frost  Point,  one  and 
a  half  miles  from  Sherwood,  which  could  be  brought  to  the  railroad 
by  an  incline  and  a  branch  track  of  not  over  half  a  mile.  The 
coal  is  of  the  best  quality  for  domestic  use,  would  undoubtedly  be  a 
good  gas  coal,  and  mixed  with  Sewanee,  have  few  superiors  for 
generating  steam.  A  large  body  of  land  in  this  region  is  under 


(89) 

the  control  of  Col.  N.  E.  Alloway,  of  Nashville.  Why  Nashville 
is  not  supplied  with  coal  from  this  region  seems  unexplainable. 
The  coal  is  of  the  best  quality,  far  superior  to  that  from  Hopkins 
county,  Ky.,  so  largely  used,  and  the  freight  distance  is  but  little 
greater,  the  distance  from  Sherwood  to  Nashville  being  97  miles, 
from  Anderson  102  miles,  while  from  Nashville  to  the  nearest  mine 
in  Hopkins  county,  Ky.,  is  85  miles.  From  Sherwood  to  Chatta- 
nooga is  54  miles,  and  from  Anderson  49  miles. 

Further  north,  beyond  the  railroad  tunnel,  these  coal  seams  are 
found  in  similar  order,  and  have  been  worked  to  considerable  ex- 
tent. The  largest  of  these  operations  is  called  the  University 
mine,  being  very  near  or  in  the  bounds  of  the  lands  belonging  to 
the  University  of  the  South.  It  is  conducted  by  Mr.  Charles 
Richardson,  and  the  coal  is  of  excellent  quality  and  much  sought 
after  for  domestic  use.  He  informed  me  that  he  had  already  en- 
gaged forty  car-loads  to  be  sent  to  Fayettville  for  next  winter's 
use.  Col.  C.  D.  Jones  also  owns  a  mine  of  the  same  coal  only  1,700 
feet  from  the  railroad,  further  northeast  from  the  University  mine; 
still  further  on  about  three  miles,  and  one  and  a  half  miles  from  the 
railroad  Mr.  W.  B.  Gibson  has  opened  a  seam  which  is  no  doubt 
the  Jackson  seam  below  the  Sewanee.  Mr.  Richardson's  mine  is" 
2J  miles  from  the  railroad. 

A  few  miles  beyond  the  Tracy  City  mines  a  long  arm  of  the 
mountain  juts  out  far  into  the  valley.  It  is  the  water  divide,  and 
is  a  distinct  ridge  far  into  the  plateau  country  in  which  Manchester 
and  Tullahoma  are  located.  It  towers  high  in  the  air,  and  its 
summit  is  capped  with  the  remnants  of  the  Lower  Coal  Measures, 
but  farther  in  towards  the  main  mountain  where  the  coal  seams  are 
found  they  are  thin.  Following  the  mountain,  however,  in  its 
northeastern  course,  m  the  bluffs  near  the  head  of  Collins  River, 
the  Lower  Measures  thicken  and  the  three  seams  of  coal  appear  of 
workable  size,  while  the  Sewanee  seam  is  also  found  in  the  strata 
above  the  cliff  and  very  near  the  escarpment.  It  has  here  been 
worked  in  a  small  way  by  Lawson  Hill,  Esq.,  and  the  coal  hauled 
to  McMinnville.  Still  farther  northeast,  up  a  fork  of  Collins 
River,  the  several  seams  have  been  opened  by  Mr.  Barnes,  and  at 
Myers'  by  Houchin  &  Biles,  and  at  McCorckle's  by  Womack  <fe 
Doty,  and  the  coal  hauled  to  McMinnville.  The  same  char- 
acteristics found  elsewhere  exist  here,  the  sub- conglomerate 


(90) 

or  Lower  Measure  coals  are  firm  and  cubical,  bearing  trans- 
portation very  well;  the  Sewanee  seam  has  its  crushed  appear- 
ance, and  is  highly  esteemed  as  a  blacksmith's  coal.  From  this 
point  to  beyond  Sparta,  as  far  as  my  actual  observations  extend, 
these  Lower  coals  are  of  very  regular  thickness,  but  southeast  of 
Caney  Fork  the  Sewanee  seam  recedes,  from  near  the  mountain 
brow  and  probably  exists  over  a  small  area  on  the  east  side  of  that 
stream. 

In  the  neighborhood  of  Sparta  a  number  of  openings  have  been 
made,  in  the  Lower  Coals,  from  some  of  them  the  coal  has  been 
mined  for  many  years.  Bon  Air  is  an  arm  of  the  mountain,  jutting 
out  in  the  valley  something  like  Ben  Lommond,  but  not  so  far;  it 
is  capped  with  the  Serai  conglomerate,  the  true  cliff  rock,  and  be- 
low it  are  found  the  Lower  Coals.  Near  the  point  they  appear  to 
be  thin,  but  passing  east,  on  either  side  of  the  arm,  they  become 
thicker,  and  have  been  opened  on  both  sides.  A  large  body  of  this 
land  formerly  belonged  to  Hon.  G.  C.  Dibrell,  but  is  now  owned 
by  an  association  of  gentlemen  known  as  the  Bon  Air  Coal  Com- 
pany. They  own  about  six  miles  on  the  face  of.  the  mountain ;  two 
old  openings,  known  as  the  Fitzwater  Bank  and  the  Trowbridge 
Bank,  are  both  on  their  property ;. Little's  Bank  is  on  a  small  tract 
within  their  boundary.  At  the  Fitzwater  Bank  two  seams  have 
been  opened,  and  a  third  is  known  to  exist  immediately  under  the 
conglomerate.  The  last  is  undoubtedly  the  same  as  the  old  Etna> 
as  seen  by  me  at  various  points  its  characteristics  are  identically 
the  same.  At  Little's  Bank  two  seams  of  coal  have  been  opened, 
the  upper  3J  feet  and  the  lower  44  to  48  inches  in  thickness.  At 
Pitzwater  both  seams  have  been  opened  in  past  times,  but  only  one 
is  now  worked ;  it  is  4  to  4J  feet  thick,  and  is  a  hard,  firm  coal  of 
excellent  quality.  Still  farther  east,  near  the  head  of  Blue  Spring 
Cove,  is  the  Trowbridge  Bank,  where  the  coal  has  been  opened 
3  to  3J  feet  thick.  This  is  also  on  the  Bon  Air  Company's  prop- 
erty. On  the  opposite  side  of  the  cove  the  coal  has  been  opened 
by  Mr.  King  2f  to  3  feet  thick. 

Following  on  around  to  the  northeast  is  an  opening  known  as 
Officer's  Bank.  This  property  is  now  owned  by  Kinsey  &  Butler, 
who  bought  the  land  for  the  timber.  The  seam  opened  is  the 
lower  of  the  three,  usually  found  in  the  Lower  Measures,  and  is 
from  3J  to  4  feet  thick.  I  found  the  second  or  middle  seam,  but 


(  91  ) 

no  opening  beyond  a  little  of  the  outcrop  was  made;  the  upper  or 
cliff  seam  shows  plainly  under  the  cliff  rock  only  a  few  feet  from 
the  main  road.  These  gentlemen  have  full  five  miles  of  the  face 
of  the  mountain,  and,  while  only  purchased  for  timber,  they  have 
also  obtained  a  valuable  coal  property.  The  Calf-killer  Biver 
rises  far  up  in  the  mountains  of  Putnam  County,  and  so  divides 
the  coal- bearing  measures  as  to  give  access  to  an  immense  amount 
of  that  mineral. 

It  remains  a  question  for  the  future  to  solve  whether  these  coals 
can  be  brought  to  the  Nashville  market.  The  distance  from  Nash- 
ville to  Sparta  is  137  miles,  from  thence  to  the  Fitz water  Bank  a 
route  has  been  surveyed,  and  the  coal  can  there  be  reached  in  five 
and  a  half  miles.  The  superior  quality  of  these  coals  for  domestic 
use,  for  the  manufacture  of  gas  and  for  steam  generation,  is  un- 
doubted, and  it  is  plain  that  if  they  can  be  brought  into  the  Nash- 
ville market  they  will  become  a  dangerous  rival  to  the  Kentucky 
and  Alabama  coals,  now  almost  entirely  used  there.  Back  from 
the  brow  of  the  mountain,  a  greater  or  less  distance  all  the  way 
from  the  head  of  Collins'  Kiver  to  Caney  Fork,  the  Sewauee  seam 
appears  in  the  superimposed  ridges,  many  of  them  extending  over 
a  large  area.  In  some  it  has  been  opened  and  shows  a  thickness 
ranging  from  3J  to  6  feet;  one  of  these  at  Scarborough's  mine 
is  somewhat  noted,  coal  having  been  taken  therefrom  for  many 
years.  The  long  spurs  extending  out  from  the  mountain  and  the 
gorges,  cut  down  by  the  various  forks  of  Caney  and  Eocky  rivers,, 
give  routes  for  railroad  lines  to  reach  the  top  of  the  rim  and  to 
penetrate  the  region  of  this  excellent  coking  coal.  In  writing  of 
Sequatchie  Valley,  the  great  area  underlaid  with  it  has  been  spoken 
of,  and  the  same  will  apply  to  this  side  of  the  mountain.  The  area 
possible  to  be  reached  from  either  side  is  capable  of  yielding  hun- 
dreds of  millions  of  tons,  and  it  will  simply  be  a  point  for  the 
railroad  builders  to  decide  from  which  is  the  cheapest  and  most 
advantageous  means  of  reaching  the  coal  and  bringing  it  to  a  main 
line.  It  is  plain,  however,  that  it  appears  more  to  the  interest  of 
the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Eoad  to  have  the  connections  made 
to  their  McMinnville  branch,  over  which  traffic  is  sparse,  rather 
than  to  the  Jasper  line,  a  part  of  which  at  least  is  heavily  burdened. 
The  fact  is,  however,  that  the  good  coking  coal  exists  in  large 


(92) 

•quantities,  and  it  will  soon  be  an  absolute  need  of  the  public  that 
access  shall  be  had  to  it. 

Northeast  of  Sparta,  in  the  counties  of  Fentress,  Putnam  and 
^Overton,  the  same  seams  of  Lower  Measure  coals  are  found,  and 
on  into  Kentucky.  A  fine  development  of  these  seams  is  shown 
in  the  bluffs  along  the  South  Fork,  as  also  on  Obed's  Kiver.  Mr. 
Cyrus  W.  Clark  has  been  for  some  time  boring  on  a  large  body  of 
land,  owned  by  himself  and  others  in  Fentress  County,  and  has 
found  a  very  persistent  seam  of  coal  4  to  4J  feet  thick.  Formerly, 
coal  was  shipped  out  of  Obed's  River  to  Nashville  in  flat-boats. 
The  great  possibility  of  the  development  of  all  this  region  exists 
in  the  construction  of  a  trunk  line  east  from  Nashville,  either  to 
the  Cincinnati  Southern  alone  or  to  it  and  beyond  to  Knoxville. 

It  is  possible  that  the  Sewanee  seam  may  be  found  in  the  ridges 
in  the  southern  part  of  Fentress  and  Overton  counties,  but  the 
great  elevation  of  the  main  conglomerate  and  the  demolition  con- 
sequent thereon,  has  swept  it  away  from  the  middle  and  northern 
section.  As  previously  stated,  nearly  the  entire  area  of  Cumber- 
land County  is  underlaid  with  this  seam  of  coal,  which  has  a  gen- 
eral rise  to  the  north. 

It  is  to  be  regretted  that  some  one  of  the  many  wealthy  owners 
of  large  tracts  of  land  in  the  plateau  country  of  Cumberland,  Van 
Buren  and  Bledsoe,  have  not  thought  fit  to  bore  down  through  the 
strata  and  determine  whether  the  Lower  Measure  coals  underlie  all 
that  region.  If  it  be  a  fact  that  these  coals  do  thus  exist,  and  in  the 
thickness  which  they  appear  all  around  the  rim,  from  Ben  Lom- 
mond  to  Kentucky,  our  store  of  mineral  fuel  becomes  incalculable. 
The  fact  that  they  are  found  in  Walden's  Ridge  gives  good  ground 
to  base  the  theory  that  they  do  thus  exist  under  this  vast  area. 


(95) 


IRON  ORES  OF  TENNESSEE. 

The  State  of  Tennessee  contains  every  variety  of  iron  ore  known 
to  commercial  use,  except  the 'Spathic  Carbonate.  The  boundary 
of  the  Magnetic  ores,  and  of  the  azoic  Hematites,  is  not  extensive,, 
yet  in  the  limited  area  where  found,  the  magnetic  ore  exists  in  large 
quantity.  The  mass  of  unaltered  deposit  ores,  however,  is  beyond 
the  possibility  of  any  accurate  computation,  and  the  area  in  which 
they  are  contained  comprises  nearly  three-fourths  of  the  State. 

Geographically,  these  ores  may  be  classed  as  the  East  Tennessee 
Iron  Region,  the  Cumberland  Mountain  Iron  Region  and  the 
Middle  Tennessee  Iron  Region.  Geologically,  they  belong  to  the 
Metamorphic,  tne  Lower  and  Upper  Silurean,  the  Sub- Carboniferous 
and  the  Carboniferous  periods.  Physically,  they  are  vein,  stratified 
and  deposit  ores ;  and  in  practical  nomenclature  of  ores,  they  are 
magnetic,  specular,  red  hematite  or  really  hematite,  limonite,  fre- 
quently called  brown  hematite,  red  fossil  or  lenticular  red  hematite, 
and  carbonate  of  iron.  Of  these  ores,  those  now  used  in  the  State 
are  only  the  limonites  and  red  fossil.  The  magnetics  have  been 
mined,  and  some  years  ago  used,  in  forges,  but  none  have  yet  been 
used  in  blast  furnaces  in  this  State,  except  as  an  experiment,  though 
large  quantities  have  been  shipped  to  Allentown,  Pa.,  and  there 
used  with  good  results.  The  azoic  hematites  are  known  only  by 
email  openings  and  specimens'  of  more  or  less  size.  These  two 
ores  have  been  found  only  in  the  counties  of  Johnson,  Carter,. 
Unicoi  and  Cocke,  but  are  thought  also  to  exist  in  Sevier,  Blount, 
Monroe  and  Polk. 

The  limonites  are  found  over  the  largest  territory,  and  have  been 
most  generally  used  of  the  two  chief  ores  of  iron.  They  are  found 
in  nearly  every  county  of  the  State  in  greater  or  less  quantities,, 
from  the  North  Carolina  line  to  the  sand  belt  which  borders  on  the 
Mississippi  River.  In  some  counties  the  quantity  is  enormous,  in 
others  only  scattered  specimens,  and  the  quality  is  equally  variable  ; 
some  beds  are  almost  chemically  free  from  phosphorus  or  sulphur,, 
while  in  others  those  injurious  elements  are  found  to  a  greater  or 
less  extent. 


(96) 

In  East  Tennessee  this  ore  lies  in  a  series  of  ridges  running  north- 
east and  southwest;  its  greatest  development  being  on  the  east  side, 
on  the  western  slopes  of  the  Chilhowee  and  Unaka  Mountains  and 
their  tributary  ridges.  Throughout  the  entire  breadth  of  the  State, 
in  the  counties  of  Johnson,  Carter,  Unicoi,  Washington,  Greene, 
Cocke,  Sevier,  Blount,  Monroe  and  Polk,  there  may  truly  be  said 
to  be  one  continuous  bed  of  limonite,  at  some  points  in  immense 
masses  like  stratified  or  boulder  rocks ;  at  others  intermingled  with 
the  soil,  but  yielding  large  quantities  of  ore  when  subjected  to  the 
process  of  washing.  The  ores  of  this  lead  are  all  in  the  lower 
silurean,  and  usually  lie  in  slates,  or  between  the  Chilhowee  sand- 
stones and  the  dolomites  of  the  Knox  or  Quebec  periods,  frequently 
intermingled  or  deposited  between  masses  of  the  latter.  In  this 
position,  it  is  found  in  a  matrix  of  red  or  yellow  clay,  from  the  size 
of  coarse  sand  to  large  boulders.  These  are  the  ores  from  which  a 
large  part  of  the  iron  of  the  United  States  was  made  in  times  past, 
and  many  beds  are  now  worked  in  Pennslvania,  New  York  and 
Massachusetts,  from  which  ore  was  taken  a  hundred  years  ago* 
The  unsystematic  and  robbery- like  character  of  obtaining  the  ore 
from  many  of  the  banks  in  Tennessee  has  greatly  impaired  their, 
value,  and  in  some  cases  apparently  exhausted  the  supply  of  ore. 

The  limonite  of  this  lead  varies  very  greatly  in  quality,  some 
being  very  free  from  any  impurity,  almost  pure  hydrated  oxide  of 
iron,  but  the  greater  part  contains  silica,  alumina,  phosphorus  and 
sulphur  in  greater  or  less  proportions,  none  to  such  an  extent  as  to 
make  it  worthless.  In  some  beds  manganese  prevails  in  such  pro- 
portion as  to  make  the  manufacture  of  speigeleisen  or  ferro- man- 
ganese a  possible  source  of  profit.  These  deposits  become  more 
vast  in  size  toward  the  southeast  corner  of  the  State,  and  the  de- 
posits on  Tellico  River  and  Gee's  Creek,  between  the  Little  Ten- 
nessee, Hiwassee  and  Ocoee  rivers,  challenge  the  admiration  of  the 
geologist  and  practical  iron  manufacturer. 

At  intervals  in  every  ridge  of  the  Knox  dolomite  formation, 
beds  of  limonite  are  found.  Some  of  them  appear  to  be  of  con- 
siderable extent,  though  but  few  of  them  have  been  opened.  When 
opened,  the  quality  of  the  ore  has  proven  to  be  good.  On  the 
summit  of  the  Walden's  Ridge,  at  various  points  from  Emory  Gap 
to  Carey  vi lie,  beds  of  limonite  are  found,  which  are  no  doubt  the 


(97) 

result  of  local  change  of  the  carbonate  of  iron  of  the  coal  for- 
mation. 

The  largest  body  of  limonites  in  the  State  is  found  in  Middle 
Tennessee,  in  what  has  been  usually  called  the  Western  Iron  Belt. 
This  vast  deposit  covers  irregularly  an  area  forty  miles  wide  and 
extending  entirely  across  the  State  from  North  to  South.  It  com- 
prises the  entire  area  of  the  counties  of  Wayne,  Lawrence,  Lewis, 
Perry,  Hickman,  Humphreys,  Dickson,  Houston,  Montgomery, 
Stewart,  and  part  of  Benton,  Decatur  and  Hardin. 

The  surface  geology  of  this  region  belongs  to  the  sub- carbonifer- 
ous. It  is  in  fact  the  counterpart  of  the  Cumberland  plateau  of 
the  east,  with  the  coal  measure  rocks  and  the  upper  limestones 
swept  away.  The  general  elevation  of  the  corresponding  strata 
underlying  the  coal  measure  rocks  is  but  a  few  feet  more  than  that 
of  Lawrence  and  Hickman  counties.  Almost  at  an  identical  level, 
on  each  side  of  the  Middle  Tennessee  basin,  occur  the  same  charac- 
teristic rocks.  The  vast  body  of  coal  which  once  may  have  ex- 
tended from  Kentucky  to  Alabama  is  gone,  but  deposited  in  its 
underlying  strata;  from  the  slow  action  of  ages,  now  remain  im- 
mense bodies  of  iron  ore,  in  quantity  and  quality  hardly  surpassed 
by  any  like  area  in  the  United  States.  In  phosphorus  and  sulphur 
these  ores  frequently  go  down  to  a  mere  trace,  while  they  never 
rise  to  such  an  extent  as  to  be  in  the  slightest  degree  injurious  for 
the  very  best  grades  of  foundry  irons. 

The  location  of  this  or,e  has  been  stated  to  be  an  elevated  plateau- 
land,  yet  it  is  well  watered  with  many  springs,  and  is  also  inter- 
sected with  streams  which  flow  west  from  the  Middle  Tennessee 
basin,  being  cut  through  on  the  north  by  the  Cumberland  River, 
while  the  western  edge  is  intersected  from  north  to  south,  the  entire 
middle  of  the  State,  by.  the  Tennessee  River.  All  these  streams 
cut  down  through  the  sub-carboniferous  strata  into  the  lower  lime- 
stories,  thus  affording  ample  facility  for  obtaining  flux  in  the  manu- 
facture of  iron.  The  two  great  rivers  named  also  afford  cheap 
transportation  to  markets,  while  other  means  of  transportation  and 
access  to  this  region  is  afforded  by  the  Memphis  branch  of  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  through  Motgomery  Stewart,  and 
Houston  counties,  the  Nashville  and  Northwestern  through  Dickson, 
Humphreys  and  Benton,  a  narrow-gauge  south  from  Dickson 
7 


(  98  ) 

Station  into  Hickman  County,  and   the  railroad  from  Columbia 
through  Lawrence  County  to  Florence,  Ala. 

This  ore  has  been  almost  entirely  used  for  the  manufacture  of 
iron  with  charcoal,  and  there  are  now  six  furnaces  operating  in  this 
region.  All  use  charcoal  for  fuel :  three  are  cold  blast  and  three 
are  hot  blast.  Notwithstanding  its  contiguity  to  reliable  and  cheap 
transportation,  but  little  of  this  ore  has  ever  been  shipped  to  mar- 
ket in  other  States,  nor  to  any  coke  furnace  in  this  State.  The  con- 
nection by  the  Duck  River  Valley  Road  from  Columbia  to  the 
Nashville,  Chattanooga  &  St.  Louis  Railroad,  already  completed, 
gives  an  outlet  for  this  ore  directly  to  the  coal,  and  it  will  probably, 
at  some  future  day,  be  shipped  to  furnaces  on  the  line  of  that  rail- 
road or  in  Chattanooga. 

It  has  been  thought  that  of  all  this  region,  the  county  of  Hick- 
man excelled  in  the  quantity  of  ore  it  contained,  but  later  investi- 
gations show  that  Wayne  and  Lawrence  have  nearly  as  great  bodies 
of  ore,  and  vast  beds  have  been  found  in  Houston,  Dickson  and 
Humphries,  which,  if  known  at  all,  had  only  a  local  reputation. 
Many  beds  abandoned  years  ago  have  also  been  reopened  and 
proved  to  have  been  by  no  means  exhausted.  Some  of  these  beds 
have  been  worked  to  a  depth  ot  seventy  feet  below  the  original  ore 
surface,  and  the  bottom  of  the  ore  bearing  strata  not  yet  reached. 
In  some  of  the  beds  that  have  been  worked  the  amount  of  debris 
to  a  ton  of  ore  amounts  to  three  to  one,  in  others  it  is  much  less,, 
and  frequently  the  ore  is  met  with  in  enormous  masses  of  many 
tons  in  weight.  The  area  covered  by  the  .formation  in  which  this 
ore  exists  is  over  1,200  square  miles,  and  it  is  fair  to  state 
that  not  less  than  one-twentieth  is  underlaid  with  iron  ore,  for 
there  is  not  an  east  and  west  ridge  but  has  one  or  more  beds  in  its 
length,  while  there  is  not  a  north  and  south  ridge  which  is  not 
almost  throughout  its  length  a  depository  of  ore,  usually  in  large 
bodies. 

The  amount  of  ore  in  the  counties  comprising  this  belt  is  simply 
incalculable ;  one  geologist  estimates  the  supply  in  Lawrence 
county  alone,  on  and  near  the  line  of  the  Nashville  &  Florence 
Railroad  at  one  hundred  million  tons.  The  county  of  Wayne  be- 
ing out  of  the  general  line  of  travel  and  present  transportation,  ha* 
not  received  the  attention  given  to  some  of  the  other  counties,  but 
it  contains  many  large  and  valuable  beds  of  iron  ore.  The  beds  •£ 


(99) 

Lawrence  are  famous,  the  most  noted  are  the  Tucker,  Herren, 
Wright,  Nixon,  Powell,  Smith  and  the  Napier  Furnace  banks. 
The  Nixon  bank,  in  Maury,  near  the  Lewis  county  line,  is  a  won- 
derful deposit  of  ore,  in  Lewis  are  many  good  ore  banks  unde- 
veloped;  in  Perry,  on  the  east  side  of  Buffalo,  are  vast  bodies  of  ore 
lying  quiet  as  nature  placed  them,  while  on  the  west  side,  in  addi- 
tion to  the  vast  bodies  of  undeveloped  ore  extending  in  a  north  and 
south  ridge  through  the  whole  county,  are  the  banks  belonging  to 
the  old  Bradley  or  Cedar  Creek  Furnace  property,  great  in  extent 
and  of  the  best  quality.  In  Hickman,  south  of  Duck  River,  the 
Etna  banks  are  famous  for  their  extent  and  the  good  quality  of  the 
t)re ;  the  Hickman  County  Company's  beds,  near  by,  are  equally  as 
good.  There  are  many  others  undeveloped.  North  of  the  river  are 
numerous  beds,  those  developed  belonging  principally  to  the 
Warner  Iron  Company.  In  Humphreys  there  are  many  good  beds 
undeveloped,  while  in  Dixon  are  a  number  of  old  works  from 
"which  thousands  of  tons  have  been'taken  and  much  more  still  to  be 
found,  while  there  are  also  numerous  undeveloped  banks  with  the 
appearance  of  vast  quantity  of  ore.  The  same  remarks  are  true  of 
Houston,  Stewart  and  Montgomery.  In  the  latter  county  is  found 
ore  of  the  few  large  and  apparently  inexhaustable  beds  of  the 
variety  called  pipe  ore. 

This  region  is  the  true  home  of  the  charcoal  iron-maker. 
Pirstly,  the  ores  are  abundant,  easily  and  cheaply  mined,  and  are 
easy  to  smelt,  limestone  is  convenient,  there  are  hundreds  of  thou- 
sands of  acres  of  timbered  land  which  will  never  be  of  any  value 
for  farming  purposes.  Experience  has  demonstrated  the  fact  that 
the  timber  cut  off  this  land  will  be  renewed  by  nature  of  ample  size 
for  recutting  every  thirty  years.  The  old  coalings  of  Cumberland, 
La  Grange,  Etna  and  of  the  many  abandoned  furnaces  prove  this. 
This  land  is  never  likely  to  become  so  valuable  that  it  will  not  pay 
to  let  it  grow  up  in  timber,  while  at  the  same  time  it  is  growing  up 
in  timber  it  affords  excellent  pasturage  for  cattle  and  sheep.  By 
the  use  of  cheap  narrow  gauge  roads  the  wood  can  be  brought  to 
the  Furnace  from  considerable  distance  at  a  very  low  cost.  The 
peculiar  trend  of  the  streams  of  this  region  and  the  location  of  the 
ore  in  the  hills  between  them,  give  a  judiciously  selected  site  vast 
advantages,  as  not  only  may  the  wood  for  long  distances  be  brought 
down  hill,  but  also  the  ore  in  the  same  way  and  on  the  same  road* 


(100) 

Hence  in  this  region  it  is  possible  to  reach  a  minimum  cost  for  the 
raw  material. 

An  examination  of  the  map  shows  the  peculiarity  alluded  to* 
Shoal  Creek,  in  Lawrence  county,  receives  all  its  tributaries  from 
the  north ;  Buffalo  River,  running  to  the  west,  receives  its  affluents 
from  the  south,  but  turning  its  course  north  receives  them  from  the 
east ;  Duck  River  is  the  same,  and  so  to  a  great  degree  is  the  Cum- 
berland. Between  any  of  the  tributaries  to. these  main  streams  are 
vast  bodies  of  ore  and  immense  areas  of  virgin  timber. 

Near  Brownsport,  in  the  County  of  Decatur,  occurs  a  bed  of 
limonite,  probably  extending  over  a  very  considerable  area,  which 
is  not  referable  to  any  of  the  the  formations  in  which  that  ore  has 
elsewhere  been  found  in  Tennessee.  The  ore  occurs  stratified  in 
layers  and  masses  just  beneath  the  black  shale  of  the  Hamilton 
period,  Devonian  age,  and  rests  immediately  on  the  Helderberg 
limestone.  Immediately  above  the  black  shale  is  the  siliceous  group 
of  the  sub-carboniferous.  A  furnace  was  once  operated  at  this 
locality,  and  the  stack  and  some  of  the  houses  are  still  in  good  order; 
the  machinery  is  excellent.  The  ore  at  that  point  is  in  large  quan- 
tity, and  it  appears  to  exist  in  the  same  geological  position  at  about 
the  same  elevation  over  a  considerable  section  of  the  surrounding 
country.  The  furnace,  though  thus  eligibly  located,  was  badly 
managed  and  has  been  idle  for  many  years,  being  tied  up  in  the 
meshes  of  the  law.  The  nearness  of  this  site  and  ore  to  the  cheap 
transportation  afforded  by  the  Tennessee  river  should  cause  it  to  be 
utilized.  The  ore  undoubtedly  exists  in  great  quantity  over  a  large 
area  of  country — up  and  down  the  river. 

Along  the  western  foot  of  the  Cumberland  Mountains  on  the 
eastern  side  of  the  Middle  Tennessee  basin,  in  a  formation  identical 
with  that  where  the  ores  of  Stewart,  Montgomery  and  Hickman 
are  found,  exist  some  beds  of  limonite,  the  extent  of  which  have  not 
been  fully  determined.  They  are  found  chiefly  in  the  counties  of 
White,  Warren,  Putnam  and  Overton.  At  several  points  these 
beds  appear  to  be  of  valuable  extent,  but  no  exploration  has  been 
made  sufficient  to  test  the  quantity.  The  McMinnville  branch  of 
the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Railroad,  now  in  course  of  extension 
to  Sparta,  will  afford  means  of  transportation  and  access  to  this 
region. 


(101)        C  ;,,••    '.':::•::;.•.:•*  --, 

RED   FOSSIL  ORE. 

The  next  ore  to  be  considered,  and  though  occupying  a  less  area, 
probably  not  less  extensive  in  quantity,  belongs  to  the  true  hematite 
series,  and  is  known  to  mineralogy  and  the  manufacturer  as  the  red 
fossil  ore,  but  is  known  locally  in  Tennessee  as  dyestone.  It  is 
almost  entirely  confined  to  East  Tennessee,  but  almost  three-fourths 
of  the  pig-iron  made  in  the  State  since  1870  was  made  from  it. 

The  geological  position  of  this  ore  is  in  the  Clinton  group  of  the 
Niagara  period,  below  the  black  shale  of  the  Devonian  age. 
But  in  East  Tennessee,  all  along  the  western  base  of  the  Cumber- 
land Mountains,  from  Chattanooga  to  Cumberland  Gap,  the  two 
strata  are  found  in  close  conjunction,  and  where  one  exists  it  is 
there  certain  that  the  other  is  to  be  found  in  that  vicinity,  though 
it  may  be  covered  with  drift.  This  ore  is  one  of  the  most  persistent 
strata  of  the  Appalachian  'geological  system.  It  is  found  in  New 
York,  bordering  Lake  Ontario,  curving  northward  on  the  west  and 
southward  on  the  east,  sinking  there  beneath  the  Hamilton  shales 
and  slates,  rising  again  in  Pennsylvania,  and  continuing  thence  in 
an  almost  unbroken  outcrop  southwest  into  the  heart  of  the  State  of 
Alabama.  The  seams  of  ore  in  this  State,  however,  are  much 
thicker  than  in  Pennsylvania ;  and  besides  the  regular  continuous 
seam  at  the  foot  of  the  Cumberland  Mountain,  there  is  another 
seam  almost  as  continuous,  and  at  places  much  thicker,  in  what  is 
called  White  Oak  Mountain,  a  high  ridge  entering  the  State  from 
Georgia,  in  the  county  of  James,  and  passing  northward  into  Vir- 
ginia, though  the  northern  end,  in  the  county  of  Hancock,  is  called 
Powell's  Mountain.  This  is  the  Montour  ridge  of  Pennsylvania. 
This  ridge  in  Pennsylvania  is  only  twenty-seven  miles  long,  and 
from  it  in  1864,  Prof.  Eogers  states  that  twenty  furnaces,  making 
sixty  thousand  tons  of  iron  per  annum  were  deriving  their  supply 
of  ore,  and  in  1881  there  were  still  nine  large  furnaces  deriving 
their  supply  in  whole  or  part  from  this  same  ridge.  The  White 
Oak  Mountain  has  a  continuous  length  in  East  Tennessee  of  over 
one  hundred  miles. 

3?his  red  fossil  ore  is  also  found  in  several  detached  ridges,  from 
three  to  ten  miles  long,  which  lie  parallel  with  the  White  Oak 
Mountain,  at  intervals,  in  a  general  southwest  and  northeast  direc- 
tion. 


(  102) 

This  ore  is  tess  variable  in  quality  than  the  limonites,  and  the 
analysis  of  a  specimen  from  one  point  in  a  leading  ridge  will  usually 
be  identical  with  that  from  another  point  ten,  twenty  or  fifty  miles 
distant.  Below  water  level,  the  ore  on  the  White  Oak  Mountain, 
and  at  a  certain  depth  the  ore  in  the  seam  at  the  foot  of  the  Cumb- 
erland Mountain,  becomes  poorer  in  iron  and  richer  in  lime. 
Hence,  for  the  present,  mining  is  stopped  when  this  hard  and  poor 
ore  is  reached ;  the  proper  course  would  be  to  mix  it,  as  done  in 
Pennsylvania,  with  the  richer  soft  ore  from  near  the  surface. 

Two  other  bodies  of  this  ore  are  of  great  extent  in  East  Tennes- 
see, but  detached  from  the  East  Tennessee  Valley  proper.  These 
are  in  Elk  Fork  Valley  and  Sequatchie  Valley  The  former  is 
about  twenty-five  miles  long  and  extends  into  Kentucky ;  the  latter 
is  about  sixty  miles  long  and  extends  into  Alabama.  Throughout 
the  whole  length  of  these  valleys  the  red  fossil  ore  appears,  dipping 
slightly  to  the  east.  On  the  opposite  side  of  the  mountain,  at  its 
eastern  "base,  along  the  foot  of  Walden's  Ridge,  the  ore  dips  to  the 
west,  hence  if  the  ore  is  continuous  for  the  eight  to  ten  miles  of 
distance  under  the  intervening  carboniferous  strata,  the  amount  of 
iron  ore  thus  stored  away  for  future  use  is  simply  enormous.  The 
Ore  on  the  east  side  of  the  mountain  is  three  feet  thick  and  in  the 
detached  seams  much  thicker.  Therefore,  even  if  containing  only 
30  per  cent  of  iron,  the  amount  of  available  ore  the  seam  would 
yield,  to  capital  invested  in  scientific  mining,  will  equal  if  not  sur- 
pass that  of  any  known  deposit  of  iron  ore  in  the  world. 

At  present  the  mode  of  mining  this  ore  is  to  get  it  on  the  cheap- 
est plan  possible,  without  the  slightest  reference  to  the  future.  In 
the  seam  at  the  foot  of  the  mountain  it  occurs  in  a  series  of  knobs^ 
with  short,  narrow  valleys  between  them.  The  ore  is  robbed  from 
the  knobs  by  rough  tunnels  as  long  as  they  think  it  pays,  and  then 
that  knob  is  abandoned  and  another  attacked.  No  mining  is  done 
below  the  level  of  the  little  branches.  In  White  Oak  Mountain 
the  dirt  and  shale  is  stripped  with  picks  and  shovels  off  the  seam  of 
ore  until  the  wall  of  shale  reaches  a  height  or  thickness  or  six  or 
eight  feet ;  the  stripped  ore  is  then  taken  out  and  the  rest  aban- 
doned. In  so-called  worked  out  leases  near  Ooltawah,  are  thou- 
sands of  tons  of  ore  which,  by  intelligent  mining  can  now  be  gotten 
out  as  cheaply  as  has  been  any  which  had  the  thinner  covering,. 
The  price  of  this  ore  in  Chattanooga  is  $2  to  $2.50  per  ton. 


(103   ) 

On  the  mountain  seam  are  now  located  three  furnaces,  two  at 
Rock  wood  and  one  at  Oakdale.  One  furnace  at  Chattanooga  de- 
rives its  supply  from  the  White  Oak  Mountain  near  «Ooltawah,  and 
from  the  mines  up  the  river,  and  South  Pittsburg  and  Cowan  fur- 
naces get  their  ore  from  Ooltawah  and  up  the  river  at  Half  Moon 
Island,  and  A.  Welcker's,  and  some  from  Alabama. 

The  seams  of  this  ore  have  very  superior  facilities  for  transporta- 
tion. The  Tennessee  river  runs  parallel  between  the  White  Oak 
Mountain  seam  and  that  of  Shin  Bone  Ridge,  at  the  foot  of  the 
Cumberland  Mountain.  The  latter  has  also  the  Cincinnati 
Southern  Railway  in  a  few  hundred  yards  of  it  for  nearly  seventy 
miles.  It  is  also  accessible  by  the  Knoxville  &  Ohio  Road  at  Coal 
Creek  and  Careyville.  The  White  Oak  Mountain  ore  is  cut 
through  by  the  East  Tennessee,  Virginia  &  Georgia  Railroad  near 
Ooltewah  and  also  by  its  Red  Clay  extension,  and  by  the  Knoxville 
<&  Ohio  branch  of  that  road  from  Knoxville  to  Kentucky  near  the 
town  of  Clinton.  The  Tennessee  river  also  cuts  through  the  Half 
Moon  Island  bed  for  a  distance  of  ten  miles.  A  system  of  cheap 
narrow-guage  roads  would  bring  to  the  river  and  railroads  in  short 
distances  a  large  amount  of  ore  now  too  far  distant  for  hauling  by 
teams.  The  red  fossil  ore  has  not  been  found  in  any  part  of  the 
Middle  Tennessee  region.  In  Overton  county  a  hematite  ore  is 
found,  locally  called  dyestone,  but  it  is  not  the  same  as  the  East 
Tennessee  dyestone,  nor  is  it  known  to  exist  in  large  quantities. 
In  the  county  of  Wayne  are  three  knobs  which  contain  a  large 
amount  of  red  iron  ore,  not  properly  a  hematite.  Its  geological 
position  has  not  been  exactly  determined.  The  location  is  near 
Clifton,  on  the  Tennessee  River,  and  the  ore  is  of  good  quality. 
It  was  once  used  in  a  furnace  located  near  by,  and  made  good 
pig  iron.  Some  of  it  has  been  shipped  oif  and  made  into  paint. 

CAEBONATE   OF   IRON. 

The  third  most  important  ore,  as  respects  quantity,  in  the  State 
of  Tennessee,  is  the  carbonate  of  iron  of  the  Coal  Measures.  This 
is  in  England  and  Europe  one  of  the  chief  ores  from  which  iron  is 
made.  It  is  used  to  some  extent  in  Ohio  and  Pennsylvania,  but  as 
yet  not  at  all  in  Tennessee,  though  it  is  one  of  the  most  abundant 
and  easily  worked  ores.  There  are  points  in  the  Tennessee  coal 
field  where  it  can  be  mined  very  cheaply.  It  is  found  in  the  State 


(  104  ) 

underlying  the  coal  seam,  worked  at  Coal  Creek  and  at  Carey ville ; 
at  the  latter  place  it  is  specially  abundant.  There  are  a  number  of 
layers  of  it  in  the  Tennessee  coal-field. 

Large  quantities  of  coal  are  also  found  in  the  Umbral  or  Lower 
Coal  Measures  of  Marion,  Grundy,  Franklin,  Warren,  White, 
Putnam  and  Overton  counties. 

MAGNETIC   ORES. 

The  least  abundant,  but  most  valuable  iron  ores  of  the  State,  are 
the  ores  found  in  the  metamorphic  rocks,  from  which  Bessemer  steel 
pig  may  be  made.  These  are  the  hematite  and  the  magnetic.  They 
are  found  at  intervals  in  the  strata  just  edging  on  the  Potsdam  sand- 
stone and  in  the  hornblendic  gneiss  of  Carter  and  Johnson  counties* 
The  hematite  has  not  been  developed  to  any  special  extent ;  hence 
its  quantity  is  not  known.  In  Sullivan  and  Carter  counties,  in  the 
foot-hills  of  the  Holston  Mountains,  is  found  hematite  ore  of  very 
compact  structure.  It  has  been  used  in  forges  and  in  small  char- 
coal furnaces  and  made  good  iron,  but  no  sufficient  exploration  has 
ever  been  made  to  test  its  quantity,  though  small  pieces  of  it  are 
scattered  over  a  large  area  of  country. 

The  magnetic  ore  exists  in  a  limited  area,  but  is  in  large  quantity 
and  of  excellent  quality.  Little  beyond  explorations  for  the  invest- 
ment of  capital,  and  a  little  digging  for  forges  has  been  done  in 
this  State,  but  beyond  the  North  Carolina  line,  very  extensive  ex- 
cavations have  been  made  by  the  owners  of  the  East  Tennessee, 
&  Western  North  Carolina  Railroad,  and  an  immense  amount  of 
ore  uncovered.  That  railroad  is  now  completed  from  Johnson  City 
to  those  mines  in  North  Carolina,  and  must  also  eventually  be  the 
means  of  developing  the  ore  of  Carter  county.  In  the  eastern  part 
of  Johnson  county  magnetic  ore  is  also  found,  but  transportation  is 
so  far  distant  that  there  is  no  likelihood  of  its  development  for 
many  years. 

The  following  are  the  iron  furnaces  of  Tennessee  using  coke  for 
fuel  : 

Oakdale  Iron  Company,  JenksP.  O.,  Roane  county,  Tenn.:  Hon. 
John  G.  Scott,  President,  Jenks  P.  O.,  (one  stack). 

Roane  Iron  Company,  Rockwood  P.  O.,  Roane  county,  Tenn, 
(two  stacks),  H.  S.  Chamberlain,  President,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 

Chattanooga  Iron  Company,  Chattanooga,  Tenn.,  (one  stack). 
Wells,  Manager,  Chattanooga,  Tenn. 


(  105  ) 

Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Eailroad  Company,  South  Pittsburg, 
Marion  county  (two  stacks),  J.  C.  Warner,  President,  Nashville^ 
Tenn. 

Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company,  Cowan,  Tenn.  (one 
stack),  J.  C.  "Warner,  President,  Nashville,  Tenn. 

The  combined  product  of  these  furnaces  is  about  400  tons  of  pig 
iron  per  day. 

Citico  Furnace  Company,  E.  Doud,  General  Manager,  Chatta- 
nooga, Tenn.,  are  in  course  of  erection;  a  stack  built  with  the 
latest  improvements,  which  will  make  one  hundred  tons  per  day. 

The  furnaces  now  in  operation  in  the  State  of  Tennessee  using 
charcoal  for  fuel  are  : 

Napier  Furnace  Company,  Chief,  post- office,  Lawrence  county, 
Tenn.:  J.  E.  R.  Carpenter,  President,  Columbia,  Tenn.,  makes  cold- 
blast  car- wheel  irons.  (Out  of  blast.) 

Warner  Furnace,  Warner,  Hickman  county,  Tenn.  :  J.  C.  War- 
ner, President,  Nashville,  Tenn.  Makes  hot  and  cold-blast  car- 
wheel  iron. 

Drouillard  Iron  Company,  Cumberland  Furnace,  Dickson 
County;  J.  P.  Drouillard,  President,  Nashville,  Tenn.;  hot-blast 
charcoal  iron. 

Cumberland  Iron  Works  Company,  Bear  Spring  Furnace,  Stew- 
art County;  J.  P.  Drouillard,  President,  Nashville,  Tenn.  Makes 
coal-blast  charcoal  iron  for  car  wheels. 

La  Grange  and  Clark  furnaces,  La  Grange  Iron  Company,  Post- 
office  Danville,  Houston  county,  Tenn. 

The  combined  product  of  these  furnaces  is  about  one  hundred 
and  five  tons  per  day. 


EXPLANATORY. — In  the  original  plan  of  this  volume,  the  intention  was  to  include 
in  it  a  sketch  of  the  Western  Iron  Belt,  information  derived  from  various  explora- 
tions, made  under  direction  of  Dr.  A.  W.  Hawkins,  then  Commissioner  of  Agri- 
culture, Statistics  and  Mines,  but  to  do  so,  and  at  the  same  time  make  the  volume 
so  complete  on  the  coal  of  the  State  as  to  meet  the  public  demand,  would  exceed 
the  sum  left  by  Commissioner  Hawkins  to  pay  for  its  publication;  hence  a  mere 
resume  of  the  iron  ores  of  the  State  is  given  here,  and  the  data  of  those  explora- 
tions made  in  the  service  of  the  State  will  be  given  to  the  public  which  ia 
entitled  to  them,  in  the  future,  in  some  other  form. 

HENRY  E.  COLTON. 


(106) 


MANUFACTURE  OF  COKE. 


The  folio  wing  is  an  extract  from  a  paper  on  Coke  by  John  Ful- 
ton, General  Mining  Engineer  of  the  Cambria  Iron  Company, 
published  in  Vol.  4  of  the  Pennsylvania  Geological  Survey: 

In  all  coking  operations  the  work  to  be  accomplished  is  to  expel 
the  gaseous  elements  of  the  coal,  retaining  the  carbon  and  ash  which 
constitutes  the  coke. 

It  is  thus  evident  that  the  quantity  of  coke  obtained  from  any 
coal  cannot  exceed  the  sum  of  its  carbon  and  ash. 

On  the  other  side  it  is  rarely  found  that  coke  can  be  made  with- 
out the  loss  of  several  units  of  carbon,  depending  on  the  quality  of 
the  coal  and  the  method  of  coking  it. 

The  minimum  loss  of  carbon  should  be  made  in  coals  having  a 
large  volume  of  hydrogenous  matter;  in  other  words,  holding  a 
sufficient  amount  of  gaseous  prodnct  to  supply  the  necessary  heat 
for  the  operation  of  coking  without  using  any  of  the  carbon. 

The  maximum  loss  of  carbon  would  result  in  coking  a  dry  coal, 
or  one  holding  a  small  percentage  of  gaseous  matter,  thus  requiring 
the  burning  of  carbon  to  supply  the  necessary  heat. 

These  considerations  lead  in  the  outset  to  an  inquiry  into  the  re- 
quisite qualities  in  a  good  coal  for  coking. 

It  might  be  expected  that  all  bituminous  and  semi-bituminous 
coals  would  produce  good  coke.  That  such  is  not  the  fact  is  now 
becoming  clear  to  those  interested  in  this  industry.  The  difficulty 
hitherto  in  getting  light  on  the  requirements  of  a  good  coking  coal, 
and  the  principles, of  coking  it,  consisted  in  the  loose  statements  of 
the  advocates  of  the  several  kinds  of  ovens,  who  seem  determined 
to  make  them  the  prime  element  in  governing  the  quantity  and  qual- 
ity of  the  coke  produced.  The  quality  of  the  coal  used,  or  contem- 
plated to  be  used,  being  regarded  as  an  unimportant  factor  in  this 
consideration. 


(107) 

There  is,  doubtless,  great  economy  in  the  use  of  proper  ovens  in 
coking  coal,  but  under  all  this  the  character  of  the  coal  is  the  prime 
factor  in  determining  the  quantity,  quality  and  structure  of  the  coke. 
And  this  is  true  whether  the  coal  is  coked  in  the  most  improved  oven  or 
in  the  primitive  open  air  "  pits  "  or  mounds. 

The  value  of  ovens  is  confined  rigidly  to  the  economy  of  labor  in  the 
process  of  coking,  and  in  the  saving  of  carbon. 

Blast  furnaces  demand  the  fuel  to  be  pure,  compact,  tenacious,  of 
uniform  quality,  and  as  free  from  moisture  as  possible. 

It  is  evident  that  the  calorific  power  of  coke  is  derived  from  its 
carbon,  and  hence  the  purest  coke  will  produce  the  greatest  heat. 
This  requirement  of  pure  dry  coke  is  the  more  evident  when  it  is 
considered  that  all  foreign  matter  and  moisture  not  only  do  not  con- 
tribute heat  but  require  the  expenditure  of  it,  in  disposing  of  the 
extraneous  matter  in  the  slag  and  vaporizing  the  moisture. 

It  is  manifest  that  as  the  character  of  the  coke  is  determined  by  the 
quality  of  the  coal  used,  the  latter  should  receive  very  careful  exam- 
ination before  expending  largely  in  plant  for  coking. 

The  first  requirement  in  the  production  of  good  coke  is  a  pure 
semi-bituminous  coal — coal  having  small  quantities  of  slate,  sulphur 
or  phosphorus. 

The  second  requirement  is,  that  it  contains  a  sufficient  proportion 
of  volatile  or  gaseous  matter  to  supply  the  necessary  heat  in  coking^ 
without  the  expenditure  of  carbon. 

And  thirdly,  that  the  coal  produces  a  coke  of  sufficient  tenacity 
to  sustain,  without  crumbling,  the  burden  and  blast  of  the  furnace> 
and  to  inherit  an  open  cellular  structure,  to  facilitae  its  impregnation 
and  solution  by  the  carbonic  acid  gas  in  the  furnace. 

Three  belts  of  semi-bituminous  coals  have  been  thoroughly  tes- 
ted in  the  production  of  coke  for  blast  furnaces — the  Connellsville 
coke  region  in  the  west  of  the  State,  Bennington,  on  the  cresjfc  of 
the  Alleghany  mountain,  and  the  outlying  coal  field  of  Broad  Top 
in  the  east. 

These  furnish  the  three  types  of  the  best  qualities  of  coking  coals 
of  the  State.  The  analyses  of  thes  typical  coals  are  given  as  a 
means  of  comparison  and  siandards  of  qualities  in  coking  coals. 


(  108) 


THKEE  TYPES  OF    THE   BEST   QUALITIES   OF   COKING   COALS  OF 

THE  STATE. 


CONKELLSVILLE. 

BENNINGTON. 

BROAD 

TOP. 

Pitttsburg  seam. 

Miller. 

Barnet. 

Kelly. 

a 
59.62 

6. 

6850 

6. 
7465 

c. 
71.12 

Ash  

8.23 

800 

7.50 

7.50 

Volatile  matter  

31.36 

2238 

1600 

19.68 

.784 

1  12 

1.85 

1.70 

Coke  

100. 
68  ppr  cent. 

100.00 
76  per  cent. 

100.00 
81  per  ct. 

100.00 
78  per  ct 

ANALYSES  OF  OTHEE  COALS  FOR  COMPARISON 


f 

PITTS'BG  SEAM. 
Irwin's  mines. 

ENGLISH  COAL. 

Durham. 

WELCH  COAL. 

d. 
61.45 

e. 
8327 

/ 

80.50 

Ash  

5.80 

1.52 

6.50 

Volatile  matter.  . 

31.71 

8.21 

12.10 

Sulphur...           .  . 

104 

Not  given. 

0.90 

Coke  

100.00 
66  per  cent. 

100.00 
84  per  cent. 

100.00 
86  per  cent. 

DRY  OR  NON-CAKING  COALS. 


Mahoning  Vall'y 
Pa. 

Brazil, 
Indiana. 

Sjraitsville,  Ohio. 

9- 
64.30 

h. 

57.20 

.     *• 
55.60 

Ash  

1.95 

1.90 

6.94 

32.73 

40.15 

36.50 

1.02 

0.75 

0.86 

Coke  

100.00 
65  per  cent. 

100.00 
58  per  cent. 

100.00 
61  per  cent. 

(•  109  ) 

The  property  of  caking  or  not  caking  in  the  soft  coals  does  not 
appear  to  be  clearly  made  out  yet.  It  does  not  depend  on  the 
amount  of  volatile  matter,  for  the  non- caking  coals  possess  this  in 
the  largest  volume.  Nor,  as  a  general  rule,  does  it  appear  that  the 
coking  property  increases  with  the  increase  of  the  hydrogen  and 
oxygen,  but  rather  on  the  presence  of  different  kinds  of  bitumen, 
or  to  the  chemical  constitution  of  the  coal  as  respects  the  manner  in 
which  the  gases  are  combined  with  the  carbon,  This  combination 
producing  hydro- carbon  will  account  in  part  for  the  loss  of  carbon 
in  coking,  but  not  all. 

Ordinary  analyses  fail  to  indicate  the  essential  qualities  of  a  good 
coking  coal.  They  are  highly  useful,  however,  in  exhibiting  the 
carbon,  ash  and  sulphur,  thus  clearly  indicating  the  strength  and 
purity  of  the  coal. 

The  only  sure  method  in  the  determination  of  the  adaptability  of 
coal  for  coking,  is  to  have  a  quantity  of  it  made  into  coke,  and  a 
study  of  its  physical  and  chemical  properties  carefully  made. 

Other  conditions  being  satisfactory,  coal  can  now  be  cleansed  from 
an  exeess  of  slate  and  sulphur  by  a  process  of  crushing  and  washing., 

At  the  Cumbria  Iron  and  Steel  Works  at  Johnstown,  Bradford's 
cylinder  breaker  with  the  usual  jigs  are  used. 

By  this  washing  operation,  many  coals  can  be  made  into  good 
coke,  which  otherwise  would  not  prove  satisfactory. 

With  coals  adapted  to  coking,  the  result  can  never  be  doubtful) 
whether  the  coke  is  made  in  open  heaps.  Beehive  ovens  or  Belgian  ovens. 

The  primitive  mode  of  coking  coal  in  heaps  or  mounds,  very 
naturally  grew  out  of  the  method  employed  in  making  charcoal  in 
conical  mounds  for  furnace  use. 

The  plans  are  essentially  the  same ;  but  in  the  case  of  the  coal  it 
has  been  gradually  improved,  mainly  in  respect  to  uniformity  of 
quality  of  coke  and  saving  of  carbon. 

The  coke  yard  is  prepared  by  leveling  a  piece  of  ground  and  sur- 
facing it  with  coal  dust.  The  coal  to  be  coked  is  then  arranged  in 
heaps  or  pits,  with  longitudinal,  traverse  and  vertical  flues;  suffi- 
cient wood  being  distributed  in  these  to  ignite  the  whole  mass. 

Beginning  on  a  base  of  14  feet  wide,  coal  is  spread  to  a  depth  of 
18  inches,  A.  On  this  base  the  flues  are  arranged  and  constructed 


(110) 

as  shown  in  the  plan — the  coal  being  piled  up,  as  shown  in  section 
B.  The  flues  are  made  of  refuse  coke  and  lump  coal,  and  are  cov- 
ered with  billets  of  wood.  When  the  heap  is  ready  for  coking,  fire 
is  applied  at  the  base  of  the  vertical  flues,  C,  C,  igniting  the  kin- 
dling wood  at  each  alternate  flue. 

As  the  process  advances,  the  fire  extends  in  every  direction,  un- 
til the  whole  mass  is  ablaze.  Considerable  attention  is  required  in 
managing  this  mode  of  coking,  in  diffusing  the  fire  evenly  through 
the  mass,  in  preventing  the  waste  of  coke  by  too  much  air  at  any 
place,  and  in  banking  up  the  heaps  with  fine  dust  as  the  operation 
progresses  from  base  to  top. 

When  the  burning  of  the  gaseous  matter  has  ceased,  the  heap  ia 
carefully  closed  with  dust  or  duff,  and  nearly  smothered  out  in  this 
way.  The  final  operation  is  the  application  of  a  small  quantity  of 
water,  down  the  vertical  flues,  which  is  quickly  converted  into  steam 
permeating  the  whole  mass.  This  gives  coke  with  the  least  percen- 
tage of  moisture,  if  carefully  applied. 

The  time  necessary  for  coking  a  heap  with  the  Bennington  coal, 
is  from  5  to  8  days — depending  mainly  on  the  state  of  the  weather. 

It  will  be  shown  that  coke- made  in  this  way  is  beyond  any  doubt 
Excellent. 

The  yield  of  coke,  accurately  determined  at  Bennington  and 
Hollidaysburg,  is  as  follows : 

BENNINGTON. 

Coal  used,          -         -         -         -         -         -         56.87  gross  tons. 

Coke  drawn,       -         -  33.63     "         « 

Loss,         /-  23.24  gross  tons. 

Yield  of  coke,  59.1  per  cent;  loss,  40.9  per  cent;  1.67  tons  of 
coal  to  1  ton  of  coke. 

HOLLIDAYSBURG. 

Coal  used,          -  -  63.80  gross  tons. 

Coke  drawn,      -  -  38.02     "         " 

Loss,  -         25.78  gross  tons. 

Yield  of  coke,  59.00  per  cent;  loss,  41.00  per  cent. 


(Ill ) 

The  yield  at  both  places  is  substantially  the  same,  59.00  per  cent, 
exhibiting  a  loss  of  24.00  per  cent  of  the  carbon  contained  in  the 
coal. 

The  Beehive  oven  is  evidently  well  adapted  for  coking  coal,  and  is 
a  great  advance  in  the  production  of  a  uniform  quality  of  coke,  vo- 
latilizing a  maximum  quantity  of  sulphur. 

The  coal  is  spread  evenly  ever  the  floor  of  these  ovens,  to  an  av- 
erage depth  of  two  feet.  The  heat  of  the  ovens  ignites  the  charge, 
and,  as  the  coking  progresses,  the  air  is  more  and  more  excluded 
by  bricking  up  the  door  and  luting  with  clay;  48  to  72  hours  are 
usually  required  to  produce  coke. 

The  3,579  ovens  «of  the  Connellsville  coke  region  are  all  on  the 
beehive  plan,  receiving  an  average  chdrge  of  100  bushels  of  coal, 
dumped  through  the  opening  on  the  crown  of  the  oven,  and  yielding 
according  to  current  tradition,  120  bushels  of  coke. 

The  yieid  in  Connellsville  region,  adopting  the  above  data,  is  aa 
follows : 

100  bushels  of  coal  @  76  Ibs.  per  bushel,  equals     3.39  gross  tons. 
120  bushels  of  coke  ©  40  Ibs.  per  bushel,  equals     2.14      "        « 

Loss,  -  - .    ^-  1.25      "        « 

Yield  of  coke,  63  per  cent;  loss,  37  per  cent.  One  and  six-tenth 
tons  of  coal  to  one  ton  of  coke. 

The  coke  is  silvery,  cellular  and  tenacious,  possessing  great  calo- 
rific power  and  is  comparatively  free  from  impurities. 

The  Kemble  Coal  and  Iron  Company,  use  beehive  ovens  to  coke 
for  their  furnaces  at  Riddlesburg,  in  the  Broad  Top  Coal  Region. 

The  process  is  substantially  the  same  as  at  Connellsville,  and  the 
coke  produced  very  similar,  in  all  respects. 

The  yield  is  as  follows : 

Coal  charged  into  oven,         -  3.35  gross  tons. 

Coke  taken  out,         -  ....         2.74       "       " 

Loss  equals,  -         .         1.61       "        " 

The  loss  of  carbon  at  Connellsville  and  Broad  Top  is  as  follows  * 
Connel^lsville,  r  9  per  cent. 

Broad  Top, "    -      22*     " 


(112) 

The  result  of  coking  at  Hollidaysburg  in  Belgian  ovens,  with 
Bennington  coal,  is  as  follows : 

Coal  used,  6.86  gross  tons. 

Coke  made, 4.81      "       " 


Loss,  -  -  2.05 

Yield  of  coke,  70  per  cent;  loss,  30  per  cent.     1.42  tons  of  coal 

to  one  ton  coke. 

As  the  coal  used  contained  68  per  cent  of  carbon  and  8  per  cent 

of  ash,  and  the  coke  produced,  70  per  cent  of  the  coal  used,  the  loss 

is  10  per  cent  of  carbon  in  the  operation. 

In  further  considering   the  relative  economy  of  these  typical 

modes  of  coking,  the  value  of  a  gross  ton  of  coal  will  be  taken  at 

$100  at  the  ovens. 

I.     Pitts  or  Mounds. 

Hollidaysburg  and  Bennington,  1.67  tons,  @  $100  equals  $1  67 
Hollidaysburg  and  Bennington,  labor,  wood,  &c.,  -         70 

Total,  one  gross  ton  of  coke,  2  37 

II.     Beehive  Ovens. 

Connellsville,  1.60  tons;  @  $1,    -  $1  60 

Labor,  charging  and  drawing,     -  -'r;       -  61 

Total  cost,  one  gross  ton  coke,      -  -  2  21 

Broad  Top,  Kemble  Coal  and  Iron  Company. 

Coal,  1.58  tons,  @  $1,  $1  58 

Coking,  &c.,  -  60 

Total,  -         -,,.-         -  2  81 

III.     Belgian  Ovens — Cambria  Iron  Company. 

Hollidaysburg,  Bennington  coal — coal  used  to  one  ton  coke, 

142  tons,  @  $1, $1  42 

Labor,  supplies,  &c.,  .          .          .  .  45 

Total  cost  of  one  ton  coke,          .          .  .  1  87 


(  "3  ) 

The  coe>t  of  the  coal  and  labor  of  coking  one  gross  ton 
of  coke,  by  the  three  methods  just  considered,  is  as  below: 

I.     Pits  or  mounds,  .         .         .         .         ;  ,       ..        $2  37 

II.     Beehive  ovens,      .         .         .-;      ....  2  20 

III.     Belgian  ovens,    ,.         ....         .        V  1   87 

Exhibiting  an  increasing  cost  from  the  Belgian  ovens  to  the  open 
pits  or  mounds.  But  in  the  first  comparison  of  costs,  no  place  has 
been  given  to  the  interest  on  the  investment  in  preparing  the  sev- 
eral modes  for  coking,  which  is  quite  an  important  factor. 

Estimated  cost  of  plant  for  the  production  of  100  tons  of  coke 
per  day : 

/.     Pits  or  Mounds.. 

Leveling  coke  yard,  fixtures,  &c.,     .         .     l  '.         .        $1,000  00 
Interest  on  investment,  at  ten  per  cent  per  year        ..  ,  100  00 


rpi  30,000     tons  -i 

Ihen,  — ^ —     =  ^  cent  per  ton  per  year,         .      .....'          00 J 

Cost  of  coal  and  labor  of  coking,  .         .         .  2  37 


Total  cost, 2  37J- 

//.     Beehive    Ovens. 

Eighty  ovens,  @  $400, $32,000  00 

Interest  on  investment,  10  per  cent  per  annum,  .         3,200  00 

Annual  repairs  and  renewals,  $10  per  oven              .  800  00 


. 

Cost  of  coal  and  labor  of  coking,       ...  2  20 


Total  cost,  2  33J- 


III.     Belgian  Ovens. 

Sixty-five  ovens,  @  $800, $52,000  00 

Annual  repairs  to  each  oven,  $15,             .         .         .  310  00 

Engine  for  pushing  coke, 3,000  00 

Annual  repairs  to  engine,             ....  50  00 

Tracks  for  engines,             ......  300  00 

Interest  on  investment,  $55,000,  @  10  per  cent         .  $5,530  00 
8 


(  114) 


Then,  $5,530+$310+$50=^'8™n  — 19J  cents  per 

ton  nearly  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  19  J 

Cost  of  coal  and  labor  of  coking,  .         .         .  1   87 


Total  cost,  .       •;.         .-.,..      ..         .  2  06|- 


The  tracks  and  cars  necessary  to  supply  coal  to  pits  and  ovens 
have  not  been  estimated  in  the  foregoing  calculations,  as  it  is  pre- 
sumed these  several  costs  would  be  about  equal,  adding  to  each 
class  one-fourth  cent  per  ton  for  this  source  of  expense. 

The   ultimate  cost   then  of  one  gross  ton  of  coke  produced  by 
these  three  methods  is  as  follows  : 
Mounds  or  pits,  ......         .         $2  37f 

Behive  ovens,  .         .         .         .         .         .  ^       2  33f 

Belgian  ovens,  .         .         .         .         .         .         .  2  06 f 


The  best  cokes  have  the  cell  space  to  the  whole  mass,  as  33  to 
67,  or  as  1  to  2  nearly.  But  this  proportion  can  differ  widely  in 
cokes,  giving  equally  good  results  in  furnace  use ;  38  to  62  is  ob- 
tained from  a  coke  of  first  class  order  in  strength  and  purity. 

Other  conditions  being  equal,  the  size  of  the  coke  cells  is  important, 
in  giving  a  first  quality  of  iurcace  fuel,  especially  in  faeilitating  its 
combustion  by  freely  receiving  carbonic  acid  gas,  formed  lower 
down  in  the  furnace,  thus  accelerating  its  solution  and  yielding 
abundant  carbonic  oxide  for  the  deoxidation  of  the  iron  ore. 

A  very  dense  coke,  with  diminutive  cells,  or  rather  pores,  is 
always  undesirable  in  iurnace  operations,  as  it  resists  solution  with 
an  obstinacy  that  is  truly  surprising. 

A  piece  of  such  coke  was  handed  to  me  which  had  passed  down 
and  out  of  a  fifty- feet  furnace,  apparently  little  wasted  by  its  fiery 
journey.  In  this  connection  it  may  be  claimed  that  anthracite 
coal  is  much  more  dense  than  coke  of  any  grade,  and  as  the  former 
can  be  used  in  the  blast  furnace,  why  not  the  latter? 

To  this  it  may  be  replied,  that  the  operations  of  these  fuels  in 
combustion  in  a  furnace  are  widely  different — the  anthracite  coal 
decrepitating,  and  thus  becoming  divided  into  quite  small  pieces, 
affording  enlarged  surface  space  for  solution,  whilst,  on  the  other 
hand,  coke  is  not  split  into  pieces  as  it  approaches  the  hot  zone, 
and  its  free  combustion  is  attained  only  from  its  large  cell  structure. 

Evidently  Mr.  I.  Lowthian  Bell  experienced  this  when  he  wrote, 
•"  My  firm  has  tried  these  plans  "  (Belgian  ovens),  "  but  found  the 


(115) 

useful  effect  in  the  furnaces  inferior  to  that  obtained  from  coke 
made  in  the  ordinary  oven"  (Beehive).  "In  consequence  of  this, 
all  the  more  recently  erected  ovens  have  been  constructed  upon 
the  old  fashion." — [I.  L.  Bell  on  iron  smelting,  page  315.] 

As  the  physical  structure  of  coke,  and  its  purity,  are  the  two 
prime  elements  which  constitute  its  value  as  a  furnace  fuel,  it  is 
evident  that  coke  ovens  should  be  planned  to  satisfy  these  essential 
requirements. 

It  is  believed  that  both  these  results  can  be  obtained,  so  far  as 
the  qualities  of  each  class  of  coal  will  permit,  by  shallow  ehargee  in 
the  coke  oven. 

A  closing  consideration  in  the  production  of  coke  claims  earnest 
attention — the  means  of  quenching  it  in  the  three  methods  of  its 
manufacture.  The  amount  of  water  retained  in  cokes  varies  from 
J  of  1  per  cent  to  12  per  cent  or  more,  depending  on  the  conditions 
in  which  it  is  quenched. 

As  has  been  stated,  in  the  means  employed  in  the  pits  or  mounds, 
in  smothering  the  coke  out  with  fine  dust,  only  using  a  very  small 
quantity  of  water  as  the  last  act  of  the  operation,  thus  giving  a 
very  dry  coke ;  with  care,  certainly  a  minimum.  This  is  a  very 
decided  advantage  in  pit  coking,  which  will  be  considered  hereafter, 
especially  when  done  near  the  furnace,  giving  from  the  pit  a  drv 
fuel. 

The  coke  made  in  Beehive  Ovens  is  quenched  by  discharging 
water  into  the  oven  by  a  hose.  The  water  is  quickly  converted  into 
steam,  which  permeates  the  whole  mass  of  coke,  resulting  in  doing 
the  work  with  the  smallest  volume  of  water  and  vapor,  giving  a 
very  dry  coke. 

-The  Belgian  Oven  class  is  open  to  serious  objection  in  regard  to 
the  manner  in  which  the  coke  is  quenched. 

The  pushing  engine  discharges  the  contents  of  the  oven  of  red 
hot  coke  in  a  mound  20  feet  long,  2  to  3  feet  wide  and  3  to  4  feet 
high.  A  hose  is  turned  on  this  incandescentxmass  until  it  is  soaked, 
pools  of  water  are  made  on  the  platform,  the  vapor  escapes^  and 
the  coke  is  charged  with  moisture  from  2  to  12  per  cent.  It  is 
possible  to  reduce  the  average  of  moisture  by  a  more  careful  appli- 
cation of  the  water,  but  the  whole  plan  of  doing  this  part  ot  the 
work  is  essentially  clumsy. 

As  a  rule  in  all  methods  of  quenching  coke,  the  finer  the  pores 
or  cells  of  the  coke  the  more  moisture  it  will  retain. 


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(117) 


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(118) 


COKE  IN  TENNESSEE. 


In  another  part  of  this  work,  some  extracts  have  been  made 
from  the  very  able  paper  of  Mr.  John  Fulton,  on  the  manufacture 
of  Coke.  This  has  been  done  because  there  is  a  general  need  of 
information  on  this  important  subject,  and  the  book  in  which  it  i& 
originally  published  is  accessible  to  a  very  small  part  of  the  gen- 
eral public. 

There  is  a  great  need  of  improvement  in  the  manufacture  of 
Coke  in  Tennessee.  The  largest  operation  in  the  State  is  that  of 
the  Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company  at  Tracy  City, 
and  the  coal  there  used  is  the  coking  coal  of  the  State  from  which 
the  largest  supply  for  furnaces  must  be  derived.  It  is  identical 
in  geological  position  with  the  coal  next  to  Connellsville  the 
most  largely  used  in  the  State  of  Pennsylvania.  Reference  to  the 
Table  of  Analysis  will  show  its  great  resemblance  to  the  Benning- 
ton  coal.  In  Mr.  Fulton's  paper  it  is  shown  that  Bennington  coal, 
in  pits,  gave  1  ton  of  coke  to  1.67  of  coal;  that  at  Connellsville 
1.60  tons  of  coal  make  1  ton  of  coke;  and  at  Broad  Top,  1.58  tons 
of  coal  make  1  ton  of  coke ;  while  under  the  head  of  Tracy  City 
mines  it  is  seen  that  the  Superintendent  states  he  is  only  able  to  get 
105  bushels  of  coke  form  100  bushels  of  coal,  equivalent  to  1.90 
tons  of  coal  to  the  ton  of  coke.  Mr.  Williams,  of  the  Soddy  Coal 
Company,  states  that  their  yield  is  not  over  110  bubhels  of  coke  to 
the  100  of  coal.  Nor  is  it  probable  that  much  better  results  are 
reached  at  any  other  coke  works. 

There  is  probably  no  doubt  that  the  best  coke  yet  made  in  the 
State  was  made  from  the  Poplar  Creek  coal ;  this  coal,  however, 
yields  only  about  sixty  per  cent  of  coke,  but  it  contains  a  minimum 
amount  of  ash,  hence  more  of  the  carbon  it  contains,  its  calorific 
power,  is  available  for  action  on  the  iron  ore  and  flux  than  in  those 
cokes  containing  a  large  amount  of  ash.  The  highest  range  of  ash  in 
the  coke  from  this  coal  is  five  per  cent.,  while  it  can  be  seen  from 
the  table  that  Connellsville  has  9  to  11,  Bennington  11,  Blossburg 
13,  Sewanee  15,  Pratt  11,  Rockwood  14.  It  is  plain,  therefore,, 
that  the  less  of  the  calorific  power  of  Poplar  Creek  cokes  has  to  be 
expended  in  smelting  its  own  foreign  matter  than  in  any  of  the 


(  119  ) 

other  cokes,  the  ash  constituents  being  almost  invariably  very 
largely  silicious;  the  percentage  of  that  material  in  ash  of  Con- 
nellsville  coke  being  7.210;  while  in  Blairsville  coke,  from  washed 
coal,  with  15.550  of  ash,  the  silica  is  9.450.  The  same  proportion 
would  give  about  three  per  cent  of  silica  in  the  Poplar  Creek  coal. 
Hence  Poplar  Creek  coal  has  one  per  cent,  more  of  heat  power 
than  Connellsville,  and  from  four  to  six  per  cent,  less  foreign  mat- 
ter to  melt.  But  it  is  impossible  to  get  from  Poplar  Creek  more 
than  sixty  per  cent,  of  coke,  while  Connellsville  gives  sixty-three 
per  cent.  Immediately  in  the  neighborhood  of  the  Poplar  Creek 
coal,  and  also  accessible  to  it  by  many  miles  of  railroad,  is  the 
Sewauee  seam  in  the  pitched  strata  of  Walden's  Ridge;  which  by 
Prof.  Wormley's  analysis  has  63.10  of  carbon,  27.70  of  volatile 
matter  and  7.70  of  ash.  There  can  be  no  doubt  that  a  mixture  of 
these  coals  would  make  a  coke  coming,  at  least,  very  near  to  the 
perfect  standard,  and  it  is  a  valuable  feature  of  the  northeastern 
coalfield  that  they  are  in  such  close  proximity.  The  richness  of  one 
in  the  inflammable  volatile  matter  supplies  the  heating  power 
which  with  the  other  alone  might  cause  the  loss  of  a  part  of  its 
solid  carbon. 

During  the  latter  part  of  the  year  1882,  four  ovens  were  erected 
at  Coal  Creek  to  test  the  value  of  the  coal  of  the  seam  there 
worked  for  coke- making,  and  a  considerable  quantity  of  coke  has 
been  made  chiefly  from  slack,  but  the  experiments  cannot  be  said 
to  have  by  any  means  been  a  perfect  test.  The  coke  has  been  used 
in  Knoxville,  mixed  with  Connellsville  and  also  with  Etna,  and  the 
founders  speak  well  of  it.  There  is  no  reason  why  it  should  not 
make  at  least  as  good  coke  as  is  made  at  Larimer  Station  on  the 
Pennsylvania  Railroad  from  the  washed  slack  of  the  Pennsylvania 
gas  coal,  lauge  quantities  of  which  are  used  in  the  furnaces  at  the 
Bessemer  Steel  Works  of  Carnegie  Bros.  &  Co.  The  table  of 
analysis  shows  the  great  resemblance  of  these  coals.  The  un- 
washed slack  of  that  coal  contains  11.60  per  cent,  of  ash  and  1.26 
of  sulphur,  the  washed  slack  only  6.98  of  ash  and  96  of  sulphur. 

In  1870  there  were  two  establishments  in  the  State  making  coke 
in  ovens,  and  these  two  had  about  thirty  ovens.  These  were  the 
Rockwood  and  Etna  mines.  Coke  had  been  made  nt  Tracy  City 
but  up  to  that  date  only  in  pits  on  the  ground.  There  are  now 
1,000  coke  ovens  in  the  State,  and  about  200  more  being  built. 


(  120) 

These  are  distributed  as  follows :  Crooke  Coal  and  Coke  Company 
30,  Oakdale  Iron  Company  61,  K-oane  Iron  Company  130,  Spring 
City  Coal  and  Coke  Company  27,  Dayton  Coal  Company  24,  Soddy 
and  Walden's  Ridge  Coal  Companies  150,  Coal  Creek  Mining 
Company  4,  Etna  Coal  Company  65,  Tennessee  Coal  and  Iron 
Company  at  Tracy  404,  Victoria  96.  Of  these,  all  but  the  last  are 
in  active  operation,  or  if  stopped,  it  is  only  temporary.  The  Soddy 
Coal  Company  are  building  75  more,  the  Tennessee  Coal  and  Iron 
Company  140  more  at  Tracy,  and  it  is  probable  that  the  Daisy 
Coal  Company  will  erect  20  or  more. 

The  production  of  good  and  cheap  coke  is  a  matter  of  great  im- 
portance to  Tennessee.  While  the  Western  Iron  Belt  affords  un- 
surpassed facilities  for  the  manufacture  of  charcoal  iron,  yet  the 
immense  quantity  of  ore  in  that  region  offers  abundant  and  cheap 
supply  for  the  manufacture  of  iron  with  coke,  but  the  problem  has 
been,  from  whence  shall  the  coke  come?  If  this  question  was 
satisfactorily  solved  there  is  every  probability  that  a  first- class  iron 
furnace  would  be  erected  in  Nashville.  The  iron  ore  can  now  be 
reached  by  three  different  railroads  from  numerous  large  beds  of 
an  excellent  quality,  but  the  nearest  coke  is  Tracy  City,  113  miles 
distant,  and  at  present  that  Company  has  not  the  capacity  to  pro- 
duce more  than  a  supply  for  their  own  furnaces.  Birmingham  is 
200  miles  distant,  with  a  product  that  does  not  exceed  the  home 
demand.  By  present  railroad  routes,  Sparta  is  137  miles  distant, 
but  if  a  direct  line  between  the  two  places  was  constructed  the 
Sewanee  seam  of  coking  coal  could  be  reached  in  100  miles.  It  is 
plain  that  from  such  a  line  the  manufacturing  interests  of  Nashville 
would  receive  a  great  impetus,  as  not  only  in  that  distance  would 
good  coking  coal  be  reached,  but  also  the  best  of  steam  and 
domestic  coal.  When  a  proper  test  shall  have  been  made  of  the 
Coal  Creek  coal,  alone,  or  combined  with  seam  B  (the  Sewanee 
seam)  then  the  city  of  Knoxville  will  be  found  to  have  a  good 
coking  coal  in  a  short  distance,  and  her  iron  ores  are  equally  con- 
venient. It  is  evident  from  these  points  that  at  no  very  distant 
day  the  coke  industry  of  the  State  will  be  very  largely  increased. 

Mr.  Jos.  D.  Weeks,  in  his  special  report  on  coke  for  the  Census 
Bureau,  for  advance  sheets,  of  which  I  am  indebted  to  the  Hon.  C. 
W.  Seaton,  Superintendent  of  the  Tenth  Census,  estimates  the 
total  cost  of  one  ton  of  coke  at  the  best  arranged  works  in  the  Con- 


(121) 

nellsville  region,  at  $1.15;  and  the  total,  including  interest  on  in- 
vestment of  real  estate  at  the  Cambria  Works,  near  Connellsville, 
at  $1.49  per  ton.  The  great  advantage  these  works  have  over  any 
in  Tennessee,  is  in  the  low  cost  of  mining  coal,  being  there  from 
less  than  one  to  one  and  an  eighth  cents  per  bushel,  while  our 
lowest  is  two  cents. 

The  great  problem  to  be  solved  in  the  Southern  iron- making  is 
the  production  of  cheap  coke.  It  is  not  probable  that  we  can  ever 
compete  in  cost  with  Connellsville,  where  the  mining  of  the  coal 
costs  only  one  cent  per  bushel,  but  taking  into  consideration  the 
higher  charges  for  railroad  transportation  which  the  makers  there 
have  to  pay,  it  may  be  possible  to  place  our  coke  in  a  central 
market  like  Chattanooga,  at  as  low  a  rate  as  Connellsville  is  placed 
in  Pitts  burg.  It  is  evident,  however,  that  such  cheap  coke  must 
come  from  a  field  not  now  at  all,  or  but  little  developed,  and  there 
can  be  no  doubt  that  the  regular  seams  of  the  Upper  Measures  of 
Poplar  Creek,  of  the  upper  Crooked  Fork,  of  Coal  Creek  and  that 
vicinity  offer  greater  probabilities  for  having  coal  mined  at  low 
rates  than  any  other  part  of  the  State.  If  those  coals  can  be 
mined  at  1J  cents  per  bushel,  in  them  will  be  found  the  solution  of 
the  cheap  coke  problem,  and  at  the  same  time  the  standard  of 
quality  will  be  reached. 

Mr.  Scott,  of  Oakdale,  says :  That  in  a  series  of  experiments 
100  bushels  of  the  Poplar  Creek  coal  made  from  120  to  125  bushels 
of  coke;  that  is  8,000  pounds  of  coal  made  from  4,800  to  5,000 
pounds  of  coke,  and  in  a  carefully  measured  month's  run  of  the 
furnace  with  a  poor  hot  blast,  an  average  of  thirty-seven  tons  per 
day  was  made  with  seventy-five  bushels  to  the  ton.  Maj.  E. 
Doud,  undoubtedly  one  of  the  most  careful  as  well  as  successful 
furnace  men,  says  that  the  Poplar  Creek  coal  has  no  superior 
anywhere,  and  that  that  region  must  eventually  be  the  Connells- 
ville of  the  South. 

For  a  better  estimate  of  the  possibility  of  our  competing  in  cost 
of' coke  with  the  Connellsville  region,  the  following  extracts  are 
given  from  Mr.  Weeks'  report  to  the  Census  Bureau. 

Mr.  Weeks  states  that  there  should  be  at  least  200  acres  of  coal 
land  for  every  100  ovens,  and  states : 

200  acres  of  land  at  $400  per  acre $80,000 

100  ovens  at 40,000 

Total $120,000 


(  122  ) 

Interest  on  above  at  8  per  cent $  9,600 

100  ovens  use  seven  acres  of  coal  at  $400  per  acre 2,800 

Amount  to  be  first  made  in  Pennsylvania  for  interest  and 

depleted  investment $12,000 

Tfliese  100  ovens  estimated  to  make  39,000  tons  of  coke  per 
annum,  and  that  hence  the  sum  of  thirty  two  cents  per  ton  is 
necessary  to  cover  interest  and  replace  capital. 

The  cost  at  Frick  &  Co.'s  Valley  Works  is  estimated  as — 

Coal  for  one  ton  of  coke .38 

Drawi  ng  coke .25 

Loading,  etc .10 

Eepairs 83— .10 

Interest,  etc.,  as  above 32 

1.15 

Mr.  Weeks  very  sensibly  states  that  he  thinks  this  too  low,  and 
from  my  own  observations  at  Valley  Works,  the  best  arranged 
plant,  and  other  of  Frick  &  Co.'s  coke  works,  I  am  satisfied  that 
he  is  correct ;  and  if  it  be  true,  that  it  is  true  only  of  the  mines 
and  works  at  their  best  arranged  place. 

At  Morrell  and  Wheeler,  in  the  Connellsville  region,  the  Cam- 
bria Iron  Company  have  500  ovens,  which  cost  about  $500  each, 
and  they  pay  25  cents  per  ton  for  room  coal  and  32  cents  for  head- 
ing coal.  The  figures  he  gives  are  as  follows  : 

Mining  coal  per  ton  (2,000  Ibs) 276 

Hauling .073 

Hoisting  and  dumping .038 

Superintendent,  Foreman  and  Clerk .016 

Lumber,  ties  and  props .029 

Repairs  and  supplies. .068 

Cost  of  coal   per  ton  at  ovens .50 

1.60  tons  at  50  cents 80 

Labor  (draining,  loading,  charging,  Sup't  and  Clerk) .412 

Supplies 026 

Repairs .056 

Cost  of  coke  per  ton 1.29 

At  these  Works  the   amount  estimated  to  pay  for  improvements 

and  interest  is  20  cents,  hence  their  cost  of  one  ton  of  coke  is  $1.49, 
It  is  estimated   that  every   acre   ef  the   Connellsville  field  will 

average  coal  enough  to  make  5,500  tons  of  coke,  or  say  8,800  tons 

of  coal. 


(  123  ) 

Now  for  comparison,  let  us  estimate  for  the  great  area  of  Upper 
Measure  coal  which  comprises  the  upper  Crooked  Fork,  upper  New 
River,  the  Poplar  and  Coal  Creek  region,  and  some  north  thereof. 
The  main  seam  now  worked  is  very  regularly  5  to  5J  feet  thick  at 
Poplar  Creek.  Assuming  a  yield  to  the  acre  of  only  5,000  ^tons 
of  coal,  at  1.60  to  the  ton,  for  making  39,000  tons  of  coke 
as  stated  above,  thirteen  acres  would  be  annually  worked  out* 
A  high  valuation  of  any  of  this  land  would  be  $100  per  acre,  and 
ovens  would  not  cost  over  $300  each.  Therefore  we  estimate : 

400  acres  of  coal  land  at  $100  per  acre $40,000 

100  ovens 30,000 

Total $70,000 


Interest  on  $70,000 $5,600 

13  acres  of  coal  at  $100  per  acre 1,300 

Total $6,900 


Mining   coal    for   one    ton    of  coke   at  1J  cts.  per  bushel, 

1.60  tons 60 

Mine  expenses. 20 


.80 
Charging,  drawing,  loading  and  repairs (. 45 


$1.25 
Interest  and  loss  of  Investment  per  ton M6f 

Total  cost  of  1  ton  of  coke  from  Poplar  Creek  Coal..$  1.41$ 

REG  A  PITUL  ATION . 

Cost  of  one  ton  of  coke  at  Frick  &  Co.'s  Valley  Works $1.15 

Cost  of  one  ton  of  coke    at  Cambria    Company's  Connells- 

ville  Works 1.49 

Cost  of  one  ton  of  coke  at  Poplar  Creek 1.41f 

In  Mr.  Fulton's  paper  it  has  been  seen  that  he  makes  the  cost  of 
coke  much  higher,  but  that  result  is  arrived  at  chiefly  from  his 
placing  the  coal  at  $1.00  per  ton.  He  does  so  simply  to  institute  a 
comparison  between  methods  of  coking.  It  is  a  singular  com- 
mentary on  the  above  figures  that  coke  is  sold  in  the  Connellsville 
region  at  this  date,  September  1st,  at  $1.00  per  ton  of  2,000  Ibs., 
for  furnace  coke  and  $1.25  for  foundry  coke.  The  average  price 
for  1882,  however,  was  $1.50  per  ton.  From  the  ovens  to  Pitts- 
burg,  a  distance  of  40  to  50  miles,  the  freight  rate  is  now  $1.00  per 
ton ;  from  the  ovens  to  Chicago  $4.67  per  ton.  The  distance  from 


(124) 

Poplar  Creek  or  the  upper  Crooked  Fork  to  Chattanooga  would  be 
from  95  to  100  miles,  and  at  present  rates  the  freight  would  not  be 
over  $1.00  per  ton. 

Mr.  Weeks  in  his  very  excellent  and  thorough  compilation,  does 
not  give  any  cost  for  the  manufacture  of  coke  from  the  washed 
slack  at  Irvin  and  Larimer,  which  is  to  be  regretted ;  but  coke  can- 
not be  profitably  made  from  the  washed  slack  at  Coal  Creek,  because 
the  land  owners  will  not  make  the  royalty  on  it  less  than  one-half 
a  cent,  at  which  rate,  and  any  price  on  it,  its  cost  would  reach  the 
amount  at  which  the  run  of  the  mines  can  be  produced  on  Crooked 
Fork  and  Poplar  Creek.  The  Crooked  Fork  region  is  immediately 
northwest  of  Poplar  Creek,  on  the  opposite  side  of  the  mountains, 
and  has  the  same  coal  seams  as  those  known  and  opened  on  the 
waters  of  Poplar  Creek.  It  has  not  now  any  connection  by  rail 
with  the  Cincinnati  Southern,  but  such  will  undoubtedly  be  made 
at  some  not  far  distant  time. 

In  a  conversation  with  Prof.  M.  M.  Duncan,  Chemist  and 
Superintendent  of  the  Roane  Iron  Company's  furnaces ;  who  is  a 
gentleman  of  great  energy  and  high  scientific  attainments,  the 
writer  was  lately  informed  that  in  experiments  made  in  their  fur- 
naces Prof.  Duncan  had  succeeded  in  making  an  excellent  pig  for 
steel  manufacture  from  the  red  fossil  ores  by  the  Basic  process, 
and  that  there  was  only  one  difficulty,  the  large  amount  of  ash  in 
their,  coke.  The  mixture  with  Poplar  Creek  coal,  spoken  of  on 
page  119,  was  alluded  to,  and  he  stated  that  such  a  mixture  would 
undoubtedly  be  of  great  advantage.  No  one  can  study  the  details 
of  our  furnace  workings  and  not  be  satisfied  that  however  cheap 
our  ores,  there  must  be  a  decided  improvement  in  the  quality  of 
our  coke  if  we  propose  to  successfully  compete  with  the  iron- 
makers  of  the  Pittsburg  region.  The  fact  is  now  plain  that  our 
chief  coaking  coal — the  Sewanee  seam — does  not  make  at  best  over 
110  bushels  of  coke  to  the  100  of  coal,  that  it  contains  from  14  to 
18  per  cent,  of  ash,  and  that  from  100  to  105  bushels  of  coke  to 
the  ton  of  pig  is  the  usual  average,  and  even  this  inferior  coke  is 
sold  to  our  furnaces  at  full  50  per  cent  more  that  the  best  Connells- 
ville  costs  the  furnaces  in  Pittsburg. 

The  census  statistics  of  Mr.  Weeks,  show  that  our  percentage 
yield  is  only  51,  being  12  less  than  Pennsylvania,  and  5  less  than 
Ohio,  yet  Tennessee  is  he  iourth  State  in  the  amount  of  coke  pro- 
duced, using  more  coal,  but  making  less  coke  than  West  Virginia. 


(  125) 

The  average  selling  price  of  coke  in  1880  for  the  whole  United 
States  was  $1.95,  while  for  Tennessee  it  was  $2.32  per  ton,  and 
Alabama  was  up  to  $3.52  per  ton,  Georgia's  one  mine  sold  coke  at 
$2.00,  and  Pennsylvania's  many  at  an  average  of  $1.81  per  ton. 
The  same  statistics  place  the  average  cost  of  Tennessee  coke  at 
$1.86  per  ton  against  $1.39  in  Pennsylvania,  $1.98  in  Georgia  and 
$1.96  in  West  Virginia.  Whatever  may  be  the  positive  accuracy 
of  these  figures,  they  at  least  furnish  points  for  the  consideration  of 
our  coke  manufacturers.  If  we  expect  to  Luake  coke  to  compete 
with  Northern  manufacturers,  we  must  firstly,  let  third- class  coals 
alone ;  and  secondly,  improve  our  mode  of  manipulating  those 
we  have  of  the  first  and  second  class. 


COAL  CONSUMPTION  AND  PRICES. 


The  consumption  as  well  as  production  of  coal  in  the  State  of 
Tennessee  is  chiefly  a  growth  of  the  past  seventeen  year?,  and  in  a 
large  measure  of  the  last  thirteen.  Previous  to  1860,  stone  coal 
was  very  little  used  outside  the  cities  of  Memphis  and  Nashville, 
except  for  blacksmith  purposes.  Previous  to  1860  the  coal  supply 
of  Nashville  was  chiefly  derived  from  the  Cumberland  River,  a 
little  coming  from  Sewanee,  and  the  gas  company  getting  their  coal 
from  Pittsburg.  Memphis  drew  her  supply  from  Pittsburg,  and 
Knoxville  hauled  from  Poplar  Creek,  while  the  consumption  in 
Chattanooga  was  a  mere  trifle.  Even  as  late  as  1870,  Nashville 
consumed  only  about  40,000  tons.  During  the  year  1882,  the 
Louisville  &  Nashville  Railroad  reports  that  there  was  brought  to 
the  city  in  their  cars  from  the  Kentucky  mines  68,266  tons  of  coal, 
and  from  Alabama  17,553  tons,  while  the  Nashville  &  Chafcanooga 
Railroad  brought  from  the  Tennessee  mines  about  30,000  tons. 
The  city  of  Memphis  in  1882  received  1,000,000  bushels  (40,000 
tons)  of  coal  by  rail,  probably  all  from  Kentucky  mines,  and  1,425,- 
000  bushels  (57,000  tons)  by  river,  probably  all  from  Pittsburg. 

The  entire  shipments  over  the  Nashville  &  Chattanooga  Railroad 
for  the  same  time  from  all  points  were  : 


(  126  ) 

, OO^\-Ij. v      , OOISilE. x 

Bushels  North,    Bushels  South,  Bushels  North,     Bushels  South, 

Cowan 809,905     1,167,900  35,468     1,964,454 

Shellmound 2,700     1,105,561        1,723,018 

Whitesides 87,701        131,223  195,340        119,194 

Chattanooga 10,320     


Total 960,663     2,404,584     250,922     3,906,166 

For  the  same  year  the  Ohio  branch  of  the  East  Tennessee,  Vir- 
ginia and  Georgia  Railroad  transported  199,500  tons  from  Coal 
Creek,  of  which  about  50,000  tons  was  for  the  use  of  the  railroad, 
and  48,391  tons  for  Knoxville,  19, 644  tons  for  stations  on  their  line, 
and  80,801  for  points  beyond. 

The  Cincinnati  Southern  has  done  a  very  heavy  business,  which 
is  constantly  increasing,  but  the  road  was  in  the  hands  of  its  pres- 
ent managers  only  a  part  of  1882,  and  Mr.  E.  P.  Wilson,  the 
General  Freight  Agent,  writes  that  it  is  impossible  to  give  an 
accurate  statement  of  amounts  and  places  of  destination. 

The  building  of  new  railroad  lines  and  the  consolidation  of  old 
ones  under  one  management  whereby  freights  are  cheapened  and 
the  shipments  simplified,  has  already  opened  new  markets  for 
Tennessee  coal  and  coke  and  is  destined  to  still  further  extend  the 
area  which  they  will  supply.  The  increase  in  the  last  two  years  is 
remarkable.  In  1880  there  were  twenty  mines,  employing  1,002 
persons,  paying  out  $386,765  in  wages,  and  producing  coal  valued 
at  $638,954.  In  1882  there  were  thirty-five  mines,  employing 
2,481  persons,  paying  out  $649,263  in  wages,  and  producing  coal 
valued  at  $1,106,737.  In  1880  there  was  used  in  the  State  74,408 
tons  of  coke  valued  at  $182,241,  in  1882  one  company  alone  pro- 
duced coke  valued  at  $180,300. 

The  prices  of  coal  in  Nashville  are  :  For  steam  coal  (slack) 
7J  cents  per  bushel;  slack  and  nut  mixed,  9  cents;  nut  alone,  11 
cents;  run  of  mines,  11  cents;  lump,  13  cents;  each  delivered, 
but  for  some  on  cars  the  prices  are  two  cents  per  bushel  less.  Coal 
for  domestic  use  sells  in  summer  from  $2.50  to  §3.00  for  seventeen 
bushels  delivered ;  in  winter  from  $2.75  to  $3.25  for  seventeen 
bushel  lots,  depending  on  the  size  of  the  coal. 

In  Knoxville  steam  coal  on  cars  sells  at  $2.50  to  $2.25  per  ton 
of  2,000  pounds;  domestic  coal  delivered  at  $4.00  per  ton. 

In  Chattanooga  steam  coal  $1.75  to  $2.00  per  ton;  domestic  coal 
$2.00  to  $2.50  delivered. 


(  127) 


PAGE. 

Anderson  County  Coal  Company 45 

An alysis  of  Coals 116 

Analysis  of  Cokes 117 

Area  of  Coal-field 56 

Black  Diamond  Coal  Company 44 

Bon  Air  Section 12 

Byrd  &  Denning  Mines 58 

Carey  Lands 36 

Carey ville  District 33 

Campbell  County  Coal  Company 34 

Central  Coal  Company 46 

CoaJ  Creek  Mining  Company 46 

Coal  Creek  District ." 37 

Coal  Creek  Shipments 41 

Chattanooga   Division 48 

Crooke  Coal  and  Coke  Company 54 

Coal  Identity 25 

Coke  i n  Tennessee 118 

Coal  Consumption  and  Prices 122 

Dayton  Coal  Company 64 

Daisy  Coal  Company 70 

Elevations 6  to  12 

Emory  Mines .   58 

Elk  Fork  District 32 

East  Tennessee  Coal  Company 33 

Elk  Gap 35 

Etna  Mines 72 

Eureka  Coal  Company..  ...".. 52 

Horizontal  Strata 68 

HeckV  Mints 47 

Helen  wood 55 

Henry  H.Wiley 52 

Inclined  Strata 56 

Iron  Ores  of  Tennessee 5)5 

Jellico  Coal  Company 33 

Knoxville  Iron  Company's  Mine  42 

Knox  ville  Division 11 

Lower  Coal  Mea-ures...  .   87 


(  128) 

PAGE. 

Mt.  Carbon  Coal  Company 52 

Markets  and  Freights 47 

Oakdale  Company 52 

Oliver  Coal  Company 52 

Poplar  Creek  District 48 

Prices  of  Coal 123 

Plateau  Dirtrict 53 

Report  of  Mines 29 

Roane  Iron  Company's  Mines — Rockwood 59 

Sand  Mountain 6 

Sequatchie  Valley 84 

Southern  Coal  Company 52 

Standard  Coal  Company , 32 

Sharp's  Coal 36 

Star  Coal  Company 44 

Spring  City  Coal  Company , 61 

Se wanee  District 76 

Soddy  Coal  Company 68 

Section  at  Tracy  City 11 

Section   Across  the  State 17 

Section  at  Coal  Creek 19 

Section  at  Little  Emory 18 

Section  of  Salt  Wells  at  Winter's  Gap — Coal  Creek 21 

Section  in  Pennsy  1  vania 24 

Section  on  the  Sequatchie  Valley  &  Tennessee  River  Railroad...   63 

Section  at  Soddy 66 

Section  at  Daisy '. 67 

Section  at  Etna. 68 

Topography 6 

Tracy  City  Mines 78 

Tennessee  Coal,  Iron  and  Railroad  Company 78 

Teonessee  River  and  Sequatchie  Valley  Railroad 58 

Victoria  Mines 86 

Walden's  Ridge  District 56 

"Walden's  Ridge  Coal  Company 70 

White's  Creek 61 

"Water  Transportation 53 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 
BERKELEY 

Return  to  desk  from  which  borrowed. 
This  book  is  DUE  on  the  last  date  stamped  below. 


SFeb'SOHJ 


LD  21-100m-ll,'49(B7146sl6)476 


son,  unicoi  &Uocke  counties. 

_p_ — Is  for  petroleum,  found  in 
Overton,  Putnam,  White,  Cannon, 
Hickman  and  Dickson  counties,  all 
in  Middle  Tennessee. 


The  Western  Iron  Belt  is  shown  stretch- 
ing entirely  across  the  State,  an  immense 
body  of  Limonite  ;  the  Dyestone.  or  red 
fossil  iron  ore,  is  shown  at  the  eastern  base 
of  the  coal  field,  and  in  Sequatchie  Valley ; 
the  great  body  of  Limonite,  called  the 
Eastern  Iron  Belt,  is  shown  continuously 
through  the  State  on  the  eastern  border/  and  close  on  it  are  the  Gold,  Copper  and 
Magnetic  Iron  Ores.  Roofing  Slate  is  found  on  Little  Tennessee,  in  Monroe  county. 


oayiamount 

Pamphlet 

Binder 

Gaylord  Bros.,  Inc. 

Stockton,  Calif. 
T.  M.  Reg.  U.S.  Pat.  Off. 


THE  UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


